Aung La Nsang and Reinier de Ridder have been reunited at Sanford MMA. The former opponents now find themselves training together in Florida.
La Nsang and de Ridder faced each other twice in title fights with the Dutchman winning both. But they are now training partners:
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Former foes
De Ridder is training at Sanford MMA and recently posted footage of himself sparring with kickboxer turned mixed martial artist Tyrone Sponge. In this photo he is posing with La Nsang and fellow EFC veteran Dricus Du Plessis.
Both de Ridder and du Plessis cut their teeth with South African promotion EFC. The former would go on to become the ONE Championship middleweight and light heavyweight champion while the latter is with the UFC and currently unbeaten inside the octagon.
De Ridder submitted La Nsang in the opening round of their first fight to claim the ONE Championship middleweight title. The rematch came together at very late notice with the Dutchman dominating for five rounds to take the light heavyweight belt.
Bad matchup
Afterwards La Nsang acknowledged that the tall BJJ black belt was a bad matchup for him stylistically and there does not appear to be any appetite from either man for a trilogy fight. It means the two can go from being opponents inside the octagon to training partners at one of the top camps.
Sanford MMA has also been used by Martin Nguyen and Brandon Vera with many of the top ONE Championship fighters travelling to Florida to train with Henri Hooft and the team.
Next up for La Nsang appears to be a middleweight match with veteran Yushin Okami, although this has yet to be officially confirmed. De Ridder could do anything from defending one of his two titles to moving up to heavyweight to challenge for a third belt.
