Reinier de Ridder has not participated in Mixed Martial Arts competition for more than six months, but he has been putting in effort at the gym to ensure that when he does return, he will be better than he was before.
This past May, at ONE Fight Night 10 in Broomfield, Colorado, de Ridder competed against Tye Ruotolo and put his grappling talents to the test in a showdown between the two of them.
Despite the fact that he was defeated by a decision on the night in question, there is no question that ‘The Dutch Knight’ is one of the very finest grapplers in MMA right now. He demonstrated that he is capable of holding his own against one of the best no-gi competitors in the world.
At ONE on Prime Video 5 in December of the previous year, de Ridder suffered his very first loss in mixed martial arts competition. He was defeated by Anatoly Malykhin for the light heavyweight world championship.
After failing to take his considerably larger opponent down, the Dutchman was forced to stand and strike with the unbeaten powerhouse that evening. He was eventually finished off just a few seconds before the end of the opening round.
It is common knowledge that de Ridder excels in a certain facet of mixed martial arts (MMA), but he is still honing his skills as a competitor and working to improve his whole game in order to make him a threat regardless of how the match develops.
During a recent interview with the South China Morning Post, ONE middleweight world champion Reiner de Ridder stated that improving his striking has been the primary emphasis of his training over the past several months. De Ridder is getting ready to return to competition and defend his title as ONE middleweight world champion.
He said:
“To tell you the truth, I’ve really changed a lot of things in the way that I prepare, including my boxing and kickboxing skills. I’ve been putting a lot more effort into improving that aspect of my game. I believe that I can win against anyone in the world, and this is a really difficult competition.”
