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Reigning ONE middleweight MMA world champion Reinier de Ridder has learned the lesson of not giving out a prediction for his upcoming fights after being knocked out by Anatoly Malykhin in December 2022 at ONE on Prime Video 5.
It was de Ridder’s first career defeat, one that also cost him his ONE light heavyweight MMA world title and his champ-champ status.
In his most recent appearance on the South China Morning Post’s YouTube channel for an interview, Reinier de Ridder admitted that he was served with a humble piece of pie.
‘The Dutch Knight’ explained:
“But I'm going into [this rematch] with a bit of a more of an open mind this time so I [am] planning to not talk too much about any predictions. I was planning to maybe shut up a little bit this time, not the arrogant me saying like I always said, ‘I'm gonna choke him out in the first round or second round.’”
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15 months after that devastating defeat, de Ridder is now ready to avenge that loss against ‘Sladkiy’ in the main event of the historic ONE 166 card on March 1 inside the Lusail Sports Arena in Qatar.
The Combat Brothers representative will have a slight edge heading into the championship rematch because it will be contested in the middleweight division, where he remains undefeated.
Reinier de Ridder looks to seize the opportunity to redeem himself against former tormentor
Apart from successfully defending his world title for the second time, Reinier de Ridder is looking forward to even his score with Malykhin in their upcoming second meeting, and he is grateful to the promotion for giving him the chance to do so despite the previous beating he received.
Additionally, the 33-year-old BJJ black belt wants to prove that he is a better overall fighter than the Russian knockout artist and points out that he just needs to show it on fight night when they once again lock horns inside the Circle.
ONE 166: Qatar is available live and for free to all Prime Video subscribers in North America on March 1.
