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Former two-division ONE world champion ‘The Dutch Knight’ Reinier de Ridder is tapping back into his roots ahead of a highly anticipated, albeit dangerous, rematch with reigning ONE heavyweight and light heavyweight MMA world champion ‘Sladkiy’ Anatoly Malykhin next month.
De Ridder will put his ONE middleweight MMA world title on the line against Malykhin in the main event of ONE 166: Qatar, when ONE Championship heads back to the Middle East for their first event in 10 years.
The blockbuster extravaganza features multiple world title fights, and goes down live from the Lusail Sports Arena in Lusail on Friday, March 1.
Speaking to ONE Championship in a recent interview, De Ridder says he is focusing a lot on his technique heading into the contest, and making sure it’s where it needs to be.
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‘The Dutch Knight’ said:
“The thing that’s most important to me, what’s really close to my heart, is the technical aspect, which I’ve been working on very hard.”
De Ridder first met Malykhin in December of 2022 at ONE on Prime Video 5. That night, the 33-year-old Breda, Netherlands native suffered defeat via a devastating first-round knockout.
Reinier de Ridder suggests winning made him complacent
Prior to his defeat to Anatoly Malykhin at ONE on Prime Video 5, Reinier de Ridder was unbeaten as a professional. However, it is because of his success that ‘The Dutch Knight’ felt he was becoming complacent as a fighter.
In the same interview, De Ridder added:
“You win 16 in a row, and to be honest, not to sound arrogant because I’m not trying to be arrogant, it always went pretty easily in the fights.”
Now De Ridder gets the chance to right his wrongs against Malykhin a second time.
ONE 166: Qatar airs live on March 1 via global pay-per-view on watch.onefc.com. Please visit ONE Championship’s official website for more information on how to watch from your location. Stay tuned to Sportskeeda MMA for all the latest news and updates surrounding the event.
