Breaking down Reinier de Ridder vs. Vitaly Bigdash at ONE 159

They’ve been on a collision course for some time now, but reigning two-division ONE world champion ‘The Dutch Knight’ Reinier de Ridder and former division king Vitaly Bigdash will finally meet in the circle.

The two are set to lock horns in the main event of ONE 159, which takes place on July 22 inside the Singapore Indoor Stadium. Reinier de Ridder’s middleweight gold will be on the line.

While both men have seen their fair share of challenges on the global stage of ONE Championship, their upcoming bout will match them with an opponent unlike any they have faced before. Add to that the fact that they are both on top of their games right now, and fans have a matchup that will truly bring the house down next Friday night.

From grappling to striking and anything in between, let's break down each fighter’s strengths and weaknesses, and look at this main event through a tighter lens.

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Reinier de Ridder has the edge in grappling

On paper, there’s no doubt that Reinier de Ridder is the superior grappler between the two. In 10 of his 15 wins, ‘The Dutch Knight’ has choked out eight of his opponents and won the other two via armbar. In his last MMA win, he correctly predicted that he would finish ONE welterweight world champion Kiamrian Abbasov with a side choke.

De Ridder is unbeaten in MMA. But he also battled grappling legend Andre Galvao at ONE X and fought to a draw, proving that he can hang with the best on the mats even outside of the MMA realm.

Of course, Bigdash is no slouch in the grappling department himself. Half of his 12 wins have come via submission, including two of his last three. He dominated former two-division world champion Aung La N Sang on the ground in their third encounter to secure his spot opposite de Ridder for the world title.

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Vitaly Bigdash is the favored striker

Vitaly Bigdash introduced himself to the ONE Championship audience in 2015 with a resounding knockout victory over Igor Svirid to capture the ONE middleweight world title. That performance showcased Bigdash’s legendary toughness.

Bigdash traces his martial arts roots to Kyokushin karate and Muay Thai, so it’s not surprising that he is adept in the striking arts. Overall, he has four TKOs in his 12 wins.

Meanwhile, Reinier de Ridder’s martial arts roots come from judo and Brazilian jiu-jitsu, hence his proficiency on the ground. However, de Ridder is confident enough in his striking skills to even call out kickboxing and Muay Thai world champion Alain Ngalani to a hybrid-rules match.

There haven’t been a lot of opportunities to see de Ridder’s striking in the circle because of his grappling dominance, and Bigdash could be the man who forces it out of him.

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The X-Factors

The confidence of both men should cancel each other out, with neither of them thinking they are the underdog heading into this matchup.

Both are also incredibly resilient, as evidenced by Vitaly Bigdash’s comeback win in his debut and Reinier de Ridder’s persistence against a legendary grappler in Andre Galvao.

Bigdash may be slightly faster than Reinier de Ridder, but the Combat Brothers representative will have the size and reach advantage over the hulking Russian. With his slight edge in striking, Bigdash may want to choose to keep the match on the feet.

However, we will definitely see both men on the ground at some point during their match as Bigdash will look to chop down de Ridder to negate his size disadvantage.

The battle will be won from there, and even Aung La N Sang believes that the winner of the match will be whoever takes the dominant position on the ground.

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Conclusion

No man can yet claim that they have beaten Reinier de Ridder in a professional MMA fight, but Vitaly Bigdash has no doubt in his mind that he'll be able to come July 22.

However, unless proven otherwise, de Ridder remains to be the man to beat in the middleweight and light heavyweight divisions. He is already setting his sights on conquering a third weight class, and he’s not about to let Vitaly Bigdash stop him from making history.

With all factors considered, de Ridder will slightly be favored in his matchup with Bigdash. However, with the Russian warrior’s penchant for pulling through tough spots, it will not be far-fetched to see him hoist the ONE middleweight world title once again when the night is over.