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Reinier de Ridder is undefeated in his MMA career and has looked very dominant in his five fights in ONE Championship so far. Looking ahead, 'The Dutch Knight' looks set to challenge himself to become the first three-division titleholder in Asia's premier MMA promotion.
de Ridder has two options to choose from. The Dutchman could be eyeing the heavyweight or welterweight titles next, having already secured the middleweight and light heavyweight belts.
Waiting for him in the heavyweight division is Arjan Bhullar, who won the title against Brandon Vera in ONE Championship: Dangal just this May. Meanwhile, Kiamrian Abbasov has owned the ONE Championship welterweight title since October 2019.
Either way, de Ridder sees that he has a better chance of beating Abbasov than Bhullar. Speaking to ONE Championship, de Ridder said:
"I think I'd be very dominant in a fight with Abbasov. Just because I'm better everywhere. I'm taller, I'm stronger, I’m rangier, I’m heavier, and he gets taken down by almost anybody. So he’ll definitely get taken down by me. So I see myself finishing that fight early."
The 31-year-old fighter from the Netherlands sees a great challenge in tangling with Bhullar in a potential ONE Championship super-fight. de Ridder has been more comfortable competing at light heavyweight and going up to heavyweight is something that intrigues him. He added:
"The Bhullar one is more interesting because I'll give up a lot of weight, he’ll probably have 20 pounds on me, maybe even more. So that might take some more time to finish him. I might have to put in some more work, tire him out, hit him to the body some more before I get the finish in that fight."
Arjan Bhullar literally belittling de Ridder in potential ONE Championship matchup
Reigning ONE Championship heavyweight titleholder Arjan Bhullar has caught wind of a potential bout between himself and two-division champion Reinier de Ridder. He is confident that 'The Dutch Knight' is too small for him and a potential fight would be too easy.
Bhullar has also stated that he might even want to target de Ridder's light heavyweight title soon and become a two-division titleholder himself. Speaking to SCMP MMA's Tom Taylor, he said:
"The king decides like I said when I feel I want to take on that challenge and squash that little bug, I will do that. As of right now, I’m the heavyweight king and I will defend my heavyweight title, and then hey, who knows, maybe I want to be the light heavyweight king as well."
Watch Bhullar's full interview with SCMP MMA below:
