Reinier de Ridder will be defending his middleweight title at ONE 159. He faces Vitaly Bigdash at the Singapore Indoor Stadium next month but the Dutchman has another champion on his mind.
De Ridder already has two belts and he wants to make it three. The Dutchman does not want to settle for just being the ONE Championship light heavyweight and middleweight champion.
When asked what fight he really wants the 31 year old answered without hesitation,
“(Arjan) Bhullar. I’ve been saying this for too long now but come on, give me a shot at heavyweight. Bhullar is an interesting matchup. I can’t say too much about my prediction right now, but I’m very confident in what I do, of course.”
Reinier de Ridder beats 'em into the ground 😱#WeAreONE #ONEChampionship pic.twitter.com/Ompxy91M1W
— ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) June 10, 2022
Tap or nap
What de Ridder does is take people down and choke them out. He has been the distance in two of his six ONE Championship fights but most of the time opponents end up either tapping or napping.
On July 22nd he faces a fighter who has never been submitted but de Ridder has already identified some weaknesses in Bigdash’s game,
“(He) takes his time, picks his shots. There are a lot of single shots on the feet which is smart sometimes. His shots are pretty straight, pretty clean. But he’s predictable, and he gets tired very easily.”
De Ridder sees himself finishing an exhausted Bigdash in the second or third rounds,
“He’s going to be tired by the end of the first. And he is going to be done by the end of the second.”
Reinier de Ridder bulldozes through!
Who's NEXT for the double-champ? 👀#WeAreONE #ONEChampionship pic.twitter.com/Cdez9oDRR0
— ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) May 4, 2022
Bold prediction
It is a bold prediction but de Ridder consistently puts his money where his mouth is when it comes to competition. He is arguably the most dominant fighter on the ONE Championship roster right now, and certainly the only man to hold two belts.
Bhullar is the regular heavyweight champion while Anatoly Malykhin holds the interim belt. Those two are scheduled to face off in a unification bout which doesn’t have an official date yet.
But if de Ridder can overcome Bigdash at ONE 159 next month then the Dutchman will be looking to face the winner. He already holds two titles and would welcome the opportunity to fight for a third.
