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ONE interim heavyweight world champion Anatoly Malykhin believes Reinier de Ridder’s latest win over Vitaly Bigdash proves he’s one of the best fighters in the world.
The two-division kingpin only needed minutes to completely dominate the Russian at ONE 159 last July. De Ridder escaped a sneaky guillotine choke that Bigdash had initiated and masterfully worked his way up to submit Bigdash with a slick inverted triangle choke, one of the rarest techniques to perform in MMA because of its level of difficulty.
Russian heavyweight Anatoly Malykhin recently appeared for a follow-up interview with ONE Championship to make sense of what had transpired between the two middleweights. He ultimately came to the conclusion that ‘The Dutch Knight’ is indeed one of the best in the world:
“Everything is clear: Reinier de Ridder is one of the most dangerous jiu-jitsu fighters. He is very strong on the ground. Vitaly knew he had to avoid fighting on the ground, that he had to throw punches to the head and to the body.”
He further added:
“When Vitaly got his opponent’s neck, he might have thought he had a chance – and by the way, his chokes are very good. But we saw how it all ended. I think Vitaly can now do some homework and analyze his mistakes. He still has a chance [to become the world champion again].”
Like many, Anatoly Malykhin had high hopes for his Tiger Muay Thai teammate. Bigdash is a battle-ridden warrior with a lot of experience and a high fight IQ. To choke someone out like him requires a lot of skill and strength, which goes to show that Reinier De Ridder is the real deal.
Watch the full fight below:
Anatoly Malykhin warns Reinier De Ridder to think twice before moving up a weight class to meet him
Although Anatoly Malykhin respects Reinier De Ridder’s groundwork, he believes he’s got some major weaknesses in his fighting style which he hopes to exploit in the future.
It’s no secret ‘The Dutch Knight’ is looking to add a heavyweight belt to his collection. He’s undefeated with a stellar record of 16-0 and 71% finish rate. However, Anatoly Malykhin believes that one can’t just rely on wrestling to beat someone like him:
“De Ridder is a good fighter, of course, since he holds two belts and has zero [losses on his] record. He is worthy of respect. [But] he strikes very badly and he is a very slow, protracted fighter. Compared to me, I think I will drop him down in seven minutes, maximum. It would be a big mistake for him to move a category up.”
