“A big, strong, and dangerous guy” – Reinier de Ridder lists Anatoly Malykhin’s greatest strengths ahead of Qatar rematch

ONE middleweight MMA world champion Reinier de Ridder recognizes the well-rounded game of upcoming opponent Anatoly Malykhin and said he will try to work through it and come up with a win.

‘The Dutch Knight’ will defend his world title against ‘Sladkiy’ at ONE 166: Qatar on March 1 at the Lusail Sports Arena. It is the headlining contest of the landmark event, which will air live free of charge for existing Prime Video subscribers in the United States and Canada.

The title showdown is a rematch between the two after their first encounter in December 2022, where the Russian juggernaut stripped the Dutch martial artist by first-round KO of the light heavyweight MMA world title he also previously held.

In an interview with InTheCage, Reinier de Ridder spoke of the strengths of Malykhin he saw in their first battle that he took note of during camp for the rematch.

He said:

“He’s pretty relaxed. So he doesn't really rush. He works in and out very well, footwork is pretty good. too. His takedown defense is not that bad as well. So just overall, a big, strong, and dangerous guy.”

Watch the interview below:

ONE 166: Qatar marks Reinier de Ridder’s return to MMA after making a brief detour to submission grappling in ONE in his previous fight.

Malykhin, for his part, is coming off a successful conquest of the ONE heavyweight MMA world title in June, defeating former champion Arjan Bhullar by TKO in their unification fight to become a double ONE world champion.

ONE 166 is the first live on-ground event of ONE Championship in Qatar.

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Reinier de Ridder says he took previous loss to Anatoly Malykhin hard

Reinier de Ridder said it took a while for him to come to grips with the KO loss he absorbed at the hands of Anatoly Malykhin in their first encounter, especially because he was not able to put up a stand that was up to his standards.

The 33-year-old martial artist lost the ONE light heavyweight world title to ‘Sladkiy’ in December 2022 in Manila, falling prey to the Russian's ferocious striking that resulted in an opening-round knockout.

In an interview with Sherdog, ‘The Dutch Knight’ recalled what he had to go through after the tough loss to Malykhin, saying:

“It took me a little while to get over [the loss to Anatoly Malykhin], especially with the way it happened. It’s not like I lost a close decision or whatever. I got knocked out brutally.”

He will try to redeem himself from it when he defends the ONE middleweight MMA world title in their all-champion rematch at ONE 166: Qatar on March 1.