WATCH: Reinier de Ridder pulls off breath-taking comeback submission win to retain middleweight MMA gold against Vitaly Bigdash

Combat sports athletes train extremely hard to be in peak fighting condition ahead of their scheduled bouts, and that preparation can definitely spell the difference between a victory and a defeat.

Current ONE middleweight MMA world champion Reinier de Ridder has been in a handful of firefights since he started his pro career in 2013, and within ONE Championship, his July 2022 matchup with Vitaly Bigdash was certainly one of his most impressive.

Up until that point, fans of the world’s largest martial arts promotion have hailed de Ridder as one of the pound-for-pound best fighters due to him holding both the ONE middleweight and light heavyweight MMA world championships.

Against Bigdash, ‘The Dutch Knight’ found himself fighting an uphill battle as the Russian cinched in an extremely tight guillotine choke that nearly had de Ridder passing out.

But with his ONE middleweight MMA world championship on the line, de Ridder dug deep and survived, then eventually got out of his predicament to turn the tables on Bigdash, locking in an inverted triangle choke of his own to put away the feisty challenger.

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De Ridder to face Russian rival once again on March 1

Fast forward to the present, de Ridder will have a chance to remain atop the middleweight MMA mountain while also enacting revenge on his rival Anatoly Malykhin come ONE 166: Qatar.

On March 1 at Lusil Sports Arena, ‘Sladkiy’ will be hoping to dethrone de Ridder once again just like he did in December of 2022 - but this time, taking the ONE middleweight MMA world championship.

Malykhin, the ONE light heavyweight and heavyweight MMA world champion has been a heavyweight MMA fighter all his life and shared a hilarious plan on how he plans to make the middleweight limit of 205 pounds.

Check your local listings or visit ONE Championship's official website on how to watch ONE 166 from your location.