"Hey it’s Aung!" - Reinier De Ridder trains with Aung La N Sang at Sanford MMA

Former rivals Reinier De Ridder (right) and Aung La N Sang (left) are now training with each other at Sanford MMA. [Photo: ONE Championship]
Former rivals Reinier De Ridder (right) and Aung La N Sang (left) are now training with each other at Sanford MMA. [Photo: ONE Championship]

Reinier De Ridder and Aung La N Sang may have been rivals in two epic fights but outside the circle, they have no issues dapping each other up.

Aung La and De Ridder, along with UFC fighter Dricus Du Plessis, recently trained together at Sanford MMA. ‘The Dutch Knight’ shared the interaction on his Instagram page, with the post receiving nothing but love from the community.

The ONE Championship titans engaged in two high-profile matches together, but fans are loving the wholesome brotherhood between the two.

One fan wrote:

“Hey it’s Aung! Awesome to see you guys getting along.”

Another commented:

“Love to see you train with Aung La.”

Henri Hooft, one of the founders of Sanford MMA, also chimed in on Reinier De Ridder’s post. The former Dutch kickboxer praised the fighters, calling them a "great middleweight trio".

Aung La also commented on the post with three separate emojis.


Reinier De Ridder took the torch from Aung La N Sang

For the longest time, Aung La N Sang was considered untouchable to the point of invincibility.

He began a three-year reign with the ONE middleweight world championship when he beat Vitaly Bigdash in June 2017. ‘The Burmese Python’ then added the ONE light heavyweight world title in February 2018 when he knocked out Alexandre Machado.

His dominance even included a knockout win over then-ONE heavyweight world champion Brandon Vera when the Filipino-American challenged for the light heavyweight strap.

Then came Reiner De Ridder.

The 31-year-old from Breda, Netherlands faced Aung La in successive matches, both of which ended in victories for De Ridder.

'The Dutch Knight' first took the ONE middleweight world title in October 2020 when he beat Aung La via first-round submission.

He then did the unthinkable when he wrested away Aung La’s second belt via unanimous decision to become the ONE light heavyweight world champion in April 2021.

De Ridder’s dominance made him just the third two-division MMA champion in ONE Championship history after Aung La N Sang and Martin Nguyen.

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