Watch: Reinier de Ridder putting in work on the pads ahead of ONE 159 title defense

Two-division champion Reinier de Ridder is getting ready to defend one of his titles when he returns to the ONE Circle at ONE 159 on July 22nd. On his return, 'The Dutch Knight' will defend his middleweight championship against challenger Vitaly Bigdash.

With the fight just six weeks out, the undefeated Dutchman shared a video of himself putting in some work at the gym with the caption:

"Work work work"

Check out the Instagram post below:

De Ridder has remained fairly active in the circle in 2022. He successfully defended his middleweight title against Kiamrian Abbasov in February, defeating the Kyrgyzstani fighter via third-round submission.

This was followed by a grappling match against Andre Galvao at ONE Championship's 10-anniversary event, ONE X. The Dutchman will now step back into the circle defending his middleweight title against Bigdash.

Vitaly Bigdash earned the opportunity by stringing together three straight impressive wins that date back to 2018. The 37-year-old defeated Yuki Niimura in the first round of their contest with an intervted triangle arm.

Bigdash followed that up with a guillotine choke submission of Rong Fan in late 2021. Most recently, he defeated rival Aung La N Sang in their trilogy bout in February. Following his win over Sang, Bigdash made it very clear who he was gunning for next during the post-fight interview.

“De Ridder, you’re next. I’m [breaking] your face, I’m [breaking] your nose.”

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Vitaly Bigdash looks to regain the middleweight championship against Reinier de Ridder at ONE 159

Almost seven years ago, Vitaly Bigdash climbed to the top of the mountain, becoming the ONE middleweight champion by defeating Igor Svirid via knockout. Bigdash successfully defended the title against Aung La N Sang in what would be the first of a trilogy.

Five months later, the two would run it back. This time, Sang bested the former champion via unanimous decision to capture the ONE middleweight title. The win made him the first professional athlete from Myanmar to become a world champion in any sport.

Since then, Bigdash has been on a quest to recover his lost title. After three impressive wins in the circle, his time has come. On July 22, the has the chance to become a two-time champion. Do you think he will get it done at ONE 159 or will Reinier de Ridder reign supreme?

Watch the trilogy bout between Bigdash and N Sang below