“Everything else is noise” - Middleweight MMA king Reinier de Ridder strictly focused on Anatoly Malykhin heading into rematch

Current ONE middleweight MMA world champion Reinier de Ridder is determined to even the series with two-division world titleholder Anatoly Malykhin.

After suffering a brutal first-round knockout against the Russian juggernaut at ONE on Prime Video 5 more than a year ago, de Ridder is ready for another crack at Malykhin when the two first-class finishers meet in the ONE 166 main event. Emanating from Lusail Sports Arena in Qatar on March 1, ‘The Dutch Knight’ will put his middleweight title on the line after already surrendering the ONE light heavyweight MMA crown to Malykhin in the first meeting.

If Anatoly Malykhin, who also holds the ONE heavyweight MMA world title, can bag another W against Reinier de Ridder, he will etch his name in the history books as ONE Championship’s first-ever three-division world champion.

The Dutchman is working hard to make sure that doesn’t happen.

“Head down, chest up, putting in the work needed,” de Ridder wrote on Instagram. “Everything else is noise.”

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Can Reinier de Ridder redeem himself against Anatoly Malykhin?

Anatoly Malykhin has looked nothing short of unbeatable through his impressive run in ONE. After five fights inside the Circle, ‘Sladkiy’ is undefeated in both the promotion and his career, carrying a 13-0 overall record with a 100% finish rate.

All of his fights with ONE Championship have ended via knockout. In February, 2022, Malykhin

KO’d Kirill Grishenko to claim the interim heavyweight MMA world title. 14 months later, he cashed in his interim belt for undisputed gold, finishing then-world champion Arjan Bhullar in the third round of their ONE Friday Fights 22 headliner in June.

In between those accomplishments, Malykhin took Reinier de Ridder’s light heavyweight MMA world title with another epic knockout in their inaugural meeting.

Can ‘Sladkiy’ once again put de Ridder’s lights out and take his 26 pounds of gold, or will ‘The Dutch Knight’ score some redemption and keep his last remaining world title intact?

ONE 166: Qatar airs live on Friday, March 1, via global pay-per-view at watch.onefc.com.