ONE Championship: Reinier de Ridder expresses interest in special-rules fight, singles out Alain Ngalani

Reinier de Ridder wants to make up for lost time and compete actively this year, so he’s taking any fight he can, no matter what the rules are.

In an interview with Sportskeeda MMA's Dylan Bowker, de Ridder was asked if he would be interested in a hybrid-rules match similar to Demetrious Johnson and Rodtang Jitmuangnon’s upcoming clash at ONE X.

Reinier de Ridder said:

“If something is offered, if something like that comes along, I’d definitely take it. Let’s think for a little while, but give me Ngalani and we’re done, we’re up.”

Four-time kickboxing and Muay Thai world champion Alain Ngalani has been in de Ridder’s sight for quite some time now. In December 2021, ‘The Dutch Knight’ went on a challenge spree, during which he called out fighters who would be willing to fight against him. Ngalani was one of the fighters he mentioned.

Reinier de Ridder sought to challenge Ngalani in Muay Thai, but a hybrid rule set could be more enticing for him. He continued to say why he wants to go up against ‘The Panther'.

“I know I can do the same thing as I do on the floor, I can do to Ngalani standing up. I can finish him in the standup. That will be one for the future as well.”

Catch Sportskeeda's Dylan Bowker in conversation with de Ridder below:

Reinier de Ridder will compete in submission grappling at ONE X

Reinier de Ridder’s focus right now is totally on the task at hand, which is a grappling bout against one of the world’s best, Andre Galvao.

Following his most recent win last month, de Ridder challenged Galvao to a match in a month’s time and looked forward to it being a submission grappling bout. The two-division world champion has proven to be a capable grappler in MMA. Now, he wants to prove that he can be just as successful in submission grappling by challenging Galvao.

It’s a daunting task to follow through on, as Galvao is a multi-time world champion in the world of grappling. Even ONE Chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong was baffled as to why de Ridder would challenge Galvao in his sport.

Watch them battle it out at ONE X: Part I, which starts at 1:00PM SGT on Saturday, March 26.