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Reinier de Ridder is not shy when it comes to making callouts. The double champion will defend his ONE middleweight title against Vitaly Bigdash at ONE 159 on July 22nd, but he has his sights set on winning a third belt in the coming months.
After only competing once last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Dutchman set his stall out early in 2022 and said they he wanted to have a 'season' encompassing a fight every quarter.
He believes this approach has served him well so far after succesfully defending the belt against Kiamrian Abbasov with a submission win in February before going on to earn a draw in a submission grappling match against Andre Galvao in March.
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Assuming he does the business against Bigdash next month, de Ridder is keen to fight for the heavyweight belt against the winner of the mooted clash between Arjan Bhullar and Anatoly Malykhin. RDR has already been very vocal about wanting to fight 'Singh', but the champ-champ is happy to fight whoever comes out with the belt and fancies his chances against Malykhin as well.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with Sportskeeda MMA, he said:
"Maybe [he's my toughest test], but there's a lot of holes in his game as well. He's shorter than I am. I think I can dominate that guy as well. He hits card of course, but everybody does. As far as I know they are ready to throw down sometime soon, so let them figure it out first."
Judging by his social media posts, Malykhin is game for a clash with 'The Dutch Knight'. After RDR called both men out in the wake of his latest win, 'Spartak' responded by saying:
“Anytime. I will tear your head off.”
Reinier de Ridder believes Anatoly Malykhin beats Arjan Bhullar in a striking battle
Reinier de Ridder acknowledges that it will be an interesting contest between the pair, and favors Anatoly Malykhin, the interim champion, to win a stand-up battle, with Arjan Bhullar having the upper hand on the canvas.
"Malykhin clearly has the better striking, so a striking match he's going to win. But if Bhullar gets him down and plays his favorite game 'lay and pray' then he might get the win."
Both heavyweights have looked unstoppable inside the ONE circle, while de Ridder has found finishes in all but two of his fifteen pro fights. Given the records and performances of all three men in recent years, ONE fans could have some real classics coming their way.
Watch the full interview with Reinier de Ridder below:
