Keys to victory for Reinier de Ridder at ONE 159

The two-division ONE world champion, ‘The Dutch Knight’ Reinier de Ridder, will put his ONE middleweight world title on the line against top contender Vitaly Bigdash in the main event of ONE 159 this Friday. The action goes down at the Singapore Indoor Stadium, and fans are buzzing with excitement.

For all intents and purposes, this appears to be de Ridder’s most formidable challenge yet. Of course, that’s saying a lot, given that the Dutchman is one of the most dominant world champions in ONE Championship right now.

The question beckons: can Vitaly Bigdash really upset Reinier de Ridder and reclaim the middleweight belt that was once his? ‘The Dutch Knight’ will do everything in his power to prevent that from happening.

Here are Reinier de Ridder’s keys to victory:

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#3. Reinier de Ridder needs to push the pace

Vitaly Bigdash will look to put Reinier de Ridder on the back foot. Leandro Ataides had some success with this strategy against de Ridder in their February 2020 bout. Ataides piled constant pressure on de Ridder and remained a knockout threat, which allowed him to negate the Dutchman’s takedowns.

Assuming that Bigdash will try to employ a similar strategy to prevent de Ridder from taking the fight to the ground, it’s imperative that ‘The Dutch Knight’ work his way into close quarters in order to stick his favorite body lock takedown.

Bigdash has that one-punch knockout power in his fists. However, if the Dutchman can avoid that, he should be able to take the action to the mat and launch his patented grappling offensive.

It's safe to assume that if de Ridder can’t take the fight to the ground, he can’t win. So he needs to get this fight to the canvas as soon as possible.

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#2. 'The Dutch Knight' should avoid getting his back taken

We’ve been witness to Reinier de Ridder’s incredible grappling skills over the years, with none of his foes being able to solve the jiu-jitsu puzzle he brings to the circle on every given night.

But in his submission grappling showdown against multi-time BJJ world champion and legend Andre Galvao at ONE X last March, de Ridder got his back taken, and he wasn’t able to do much from that position. Similarly, Ataides also took de Ridder’s back for a brief moment, which resulted in a lackluster overall performance for ‘The Dutch Knight’ in that particular fight.

If there is any weakness at all in De Ridder’s grappling game, it appears to be in his defense when an opponent takes his back. The 31-year-old’s long limbs and body type is perfect for when he’s in a dominant position, but not so much when he’s the one playing defense.

Watch his fight against Ataides below:

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#1. The champ should finish the fight early

Reinier de Ridder has 13 finishes in 15 fights as a professional, so it’s safe to say he’s not used to going the distance. Vitaly Bigdash, on the other hand, is a master of conserving his energy and scoring enough points to get the win on the judges’ scorecards.

De Ridder mentioned in a recent pre-fight interview that he believes Bigdash will tire early due to his body type. It appears the 31-year-old middleweight king is banking on his Russian adversary to run out of steam in the early going. But this strategy could backfire on the Dutchman.

If there’s anything that Bigdash is arguably better than de Ridder at, it’s grinding out a decision victory. ‘The Dutch Knight’ should try to get Bigdash out of there as soon as possible and look to end the night early.

Watch the rise of Renier de Ridder below: