'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Reinier de Ridder reflected on fighting inside a ring before ONE Championship started using a cage.
‘The Dutch Knight’ has fought and won seven times in ONE Championship MMA competitions since debuting in January 2019. After winning his debut against Fan Rong, De Ridder fought in a boxing ring twice before ONE switched back to the Circle.
During an interview with Brian Campbell of Morning Kombat, the two-division world champion had this to say about fighting in a ring:
“I fought in the ring twice for ONE, and that was pretty cool as well, actually, to be honest. Because it was easy to get body locks and stuff. Both are fine, in my eyes. But I think, just for the casual fans, it’s better to have it in a cage. They have Muay Thai fights and kickboxing fights in the cage now as well.”
Regardless of where he’s fighting, De Ridder has been unstoppable. ‘The Dutch Knight’ will now take on arguably his toughest test yet against interim heavyweight champion Anatoly Malykhin. The two-division world champion is putting his light heavyweight title on the line against Malykhin at ONE on Prime Video 5.
Watch Reinier De Ridder's interview with Brian Campbell's Morning Kombat below:
Reinier De Ridder wants to stick with MMA over submission grappling
Reinier De Ridder’s striking has improved, but his bread and butter will always be grappling. ‘The Dutch Knight’ has proven to be one of the best MMA grapplers on the planet, which has led to an interest in him competing in ONE Championship’s submission grappling ruleset. De Ridder had this to say:
“To be honest, it’s a lot easier sometimes to set some stuff up. I grappled [Andre] Galvao last year. In grappling, sometimes it’s hard to get to places, because they can really stall. And then in MMA, once I get on top, I can get some elbows involved, get some punches involved and then I can really force them to move. Then that elbow opens up some more stuff. Sometimes it’s easier to choke people in MMA than it is in grappling.”
De Ridder’s submission skills have led to four submissions in ONE Championship. ‘The Dutch Knight’ will look for another submission against knockout artist Anatoly Malykhin at ONE on Prime Video 5, which can be seen for free by all Amazon subscribers across North America.
