Because of his towering 6’4″ size, Reinier de Ridder, who holds the title of ONE Middleweight Mixed Martial Arts World Champion, is without a doubt one of the most recognizable fighters in the stable of athletes that ONE Championship has to offer. He uses his height to his advantage when competing against his opponents.
De Ridder has a long list of outstanding performances to his name, as he has competed in ten bouts in the largest martial arts promotion in the world. In February of 2022, he completely dominated Kiamrian Abbasov, which was one of the matches that generated a lot of excitement among fans.
The moment was when Abbasov was coming off of a technical knockout victory against James Nakashima to claim the ONE welterweight MMA world championship. At the same time, de Ridder was a two-time ONE Mixed Martial Arts world champion, holding the gold in both the middleweight and light heavyweight heavyweight divisions.
Abbasov was the one who acted as the challenger when the two were partnered against one another. This was due to the fact that de Ridder’s ONE middleweight MMA world championship was at stake.
“The Dutch Knight” instantly gained control of the fight with his superior grappling skills, which complemented his tremendous height and reach advantage. As a result, Abbasov’s possibilities to trade strikes with him were severely limited.
“Brazen” was unable to find any breathing room for the greater part of three rounds due to De Ridder’s relentless efforts, which ultimately resulted in him tapping out to an arm-triangle choke.
De Ridder to defend middleweight gold against Russian rival
De Ridder will be defending his ONE middleweight mixed martial arts world championship on March 1 at ONE 166: Qatar, which will take place inside the Lusail Sports Arena in Qatar. This will be the second time that de Ridder and Anatoly Malykhin will be competing in the ONE Circle together.
When De Ridder and ‘Sladkiy’ fought for the ONE light heavyweight MMA world championship in December 2022, he clearly remembers the hammering that ‘Sladkiy’ put him through, and he will undoubtedly want to settle the score when ONE 166 takes place.
If you want to know how to watch ONE 166 from your area, check the listings on your local television station or go to the official website of ONE Championship.
