Reinier de Ridder suggests age may catch up with Arjan Bhullar: “He's on the bad side of his 30s”

ONE middleweight champion Reinier de Ridder is not expecting much from Arjan Bhullar in his first fight back after a two-year hiatus.

While ‘The Dutch Knight’ acknowledges what ‘Singh’ has accomplished in his career, he believes Father Time will remain undefeated and eventually catch up to the 37-year-old star.

‘RDR’ recently appeared on the South China Morning Post and offered a candid take about the returning ONE heavyweight world champion:

“I don't know what he's been like in the gym or I don't know anything about the guy. I don't really even know who he trains with, to be honest. He's getting on the bad side of his 30s. There are a lot of things against him.”

Aside from getting up there in age, Bhullar will also have an extremely tough task before him of trying to hand the rampaging Anatoly Malykhin his first career defeat.

‘Sladkiy’ gladly assumed the throne in Bhullar’s absence and wants to remove the interim tag on his shiny gold belt by adding the Canadian-Indian to his laundry list of KO victims at ONE Friday Fights 22.

Moreover, de Ridder knows firsthand just how devastating Malykhin can be, as he surrendered his light heavyweight world title after being on the receiving end of the Russian’s nuclear fists last year.

While the odds may be against Bhullar, ‘RDR’ still credits the heavyweight king’s well-rounded skills and will keep a close eye on this gargantuan heavyweight world title unification bout. He added:

“But he is a world champion, man. He's done awesome stuff in the past, so I don't know. I'll be watching definitely.”

Watch RDR’s full interview:

ONE Friday Fights 22 will emanate from Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok and is available for broadcast on ONE Championship’s YouTube Channel beginning at 8:30 AM EDT.