ONE CEO on Reinier de Ridder shaking off devastating KO

Reinier de Ridder suffered the first setback of his mixed martial arts career at ONE on Prime Video 5. Walking into the bout with two ONE world championships and all the confidence in the world, de Ridder was quickly brought back down to earth after suffering a brutal first-round knockout against undefeated Russian behemoth Anatoly Malykhin.

Malykhin, like his opponent, entered the bout undefeated in his MMA career. When he walked out of the Circle, he still had his ‘O’ along with Reinier de Ridder’s light heavyweight world championship.

Even with the lopsided loss to the Russian juggernaut, the ONE CEO and chairman Chatri Sityodtong was still impressed by Reinier de Ridder’s warrior spirit. Speaking at the ONE on Prime Video 5 post-fight press conference, Sityodtong said:

“No, he was still fighting. That's what was happening. He was knocked senseless, and he was still fighting. I mean, that also speaks to RDR's warrior spirit. He got hit so hard that when he came to, he was still trying to fight. So he was like, going for a single against our doctor.”

'The Dutch Knight' followed up with his fans after the loss on Instagram, saying:

"I'm ok sweet people. Took a chance and it didn't work out well this time. Life is still good. Happy to be going back to my wife and kids."

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It was never about the belts for Reinier de Ridder

While every fighter strives to reach the top of the mountain, Reinier de Ridder was never about collecting belts. The goal was to be the absolute best fighter in the world, title or no title. Speaking to The MMA Superfan ahead of ONE on Prime Video 5, ‘The Dutch Knight’ said:

"It's not about a belt. I got enough belts here. The wall is full of belts, I got belts here, I got belts there. There are belts everywhere. But the thing is, I want to know that I'm the best in the world. And I want to show the people that I'm the best in the world, and that I can beat anybody on the planet. So that's what I'm here for."

As many fighters before him have learned, part of being the best fighter in the world is learning to lose with dignity and displaying the ability to bounce back even better than before. ‘The Dutch Knight’ is already in high spirits following the devastating loss and there is no doubt that he will return even better after suffering his first setback inside the circle. And that is the sign of a true champion.