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Reinier de Ridder knows he has a huge opportunity awaiting him at ONE 166: Qatar and the middleweight MMA world champion wants to make the most of it come March 1.
‘The Dutch Knight’ puts his coveted strap on the line against Anatoly Malykhin in one of three world title rematches set to headline the organization’s debut outing in the country live from the Lusail Sports Arena.
A successful world title defense will be at stake for the Breda native, but more importantly, this is a chance for him to avenge his sole promotional loss under the ONE spotlight to the man who damaged his perfect streak.
He told the South China Morning Post:
“I feel very strong heading into this. My mind is sharp, as sharp as a razor blade. And I feel like I have this opportunity in front of me to make good on a little bit of some past mistakes and I have my mind set on redemption.”
Watch the full interview here:
Since dropping his light heavyweight world title to ‘Sladkiy' at ONE on Prime Video 5 in December 2022, Reinier de Ridder has been on a path to mend his mistakes and prepare for the inevitable chance to run it back against the unbeaten Russian.
As such, he promises to bring renewed confidence and an evolved arsenal when he steps inside the Circle on fight night.
On Malykhin’s end, the light heavyweight and heavyweight MMA world champion makes his middleweight debut with a chance to be the sport’s first triple-king.
With so much at stake for both warriors, be sure not to miss any of the action that goes down this Friday, March 1.
The other world title matchups apart from Reinier de Ridder-Anatoly Malykhin in Qatar
Before Reinier de Ridder and Malykhin renew their rivalry, Tang Kai and Thanh Le meet for the second time to unify their featherweight MMA world champion.
The Chinese superstar sat out throughout 2023 due to injury, while Le enters the duel after a sumptuous submission win over Ilya Freymanov to capture the interim world title.
In the first of three world title offerings, Jarred Brooks and Joshua Pacio collide in a strawweight MMA world championship contest.
ONE 166: Qatar will be available to North American fans with an active Amazon Prime Video subscription.
