Adriano Moraes rates Reinier de Ridder’s grappling skills on a scale of 1 to 10

Current two-division ONE world champion Reinier de Ridder is gearing up for his upcoming middleweight world title defense against dangerous Russian grappler Vitaly Bigdash at ONE 159 on July 22.

If you follow ‘The Dutch Knight’ through any of his social media channels, you have been treated to regular video clips of de Ridder showing off his incredible Brazilian jiu-jitsu skills. Another ONE world champion has taken notice and recently commented on the double-champ’s skills on the ground.

Reigning ONE flyweight world champion Adriano Moraes is busy preparing for his own world title showdown with flyweight division rival Demetrious ‘Mighty Mouse’ Johnson on August 26. On that date, ONE Championship makes its debut on Amazon Prime Video, with Moraes and ‘Mighty Mouse’ headlining the historic card on US prime time.

The ONE flyweight world champion took a moment to speak with ONE Championship, and the decorated BJJ black belt gave his own assessment of de Ridder’s abilities on the mat.

“Reinier de Ridder has already shown himself to be a good jiu-jitsu athlete. He's a guy who likes to put pressure when he's on top. He's already shown in his fights how good he is at jiu-jitsu. He had a very good fight with André Galvão and showed that his grappling is at a high level. And on that scale of 1 to 10, I would give him an 8.”

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Reinier de Ridder put his grappling skills to the test against André Galvão at ONE X

Reinier de Ridder tested his Brazilian jiu-jitsu skills against BJJ legend André Galvão at the promotion's 10th-anniversary event, ONE X, this past March.

Galvão, a multi-time BJJ world champion with over 160 victories to his credit, put the two-division world champion through one of the biggest tests of his combat sports career.

In the end, the two grappled to a draw after 12 minutes of back-and-forth action. Following the contest, Galvão claimed that de Ridder “played it safe,” a claim that did not sit well with ‘The Dutch Knight’.

“[Galvão] was the one [in guard], so I think he was in defense mode. But at the end, he got on top [and] he tried to pass a little bit. But it was a bit of a back-and-forth match, and it was an honor to grapple with a guy like Galvão, and it was good fun."

Reinier de Ridder is open to the possibility of facing Galvão once again in an MMA bout, but the Breda, Netherlands native is not holding his breath on that.

"It would be over pretty soon. First round, some knees to the head, I imagine. Something like that would end it, but I don't think we'll see it anytime soon. But maybe one day. It would be cool."