“Run my mouth a little bit” - Reinier de Ridder admits he was ‘stupid’ to call out top heavyweights

No one is infallible as people make decisions that they would later on regret due to a multitude of factors and it is a fact that Reinier de Ridder can relate to all too well.

The reigning ONE middleweight and former light heavyweight MMA world champion has never been one to keep his thoughts to himself and talked a lot of game when he was running roughshod over both divisions.

After all, he produced five finishes featuring his July 2022 comeback victory via submission against Vitaly Bigdash at ONE 159.

However, that confidence in his abilities would come back to haunt him in the form of heavyweight star Anatoly Malykhin who challenged him for the ONE light heavyweight MMA world championship.

Then the interim ONE heavyweight MMA world champion, ‘Sladkiy’ dismantled de Ridder’s defense for the entirety of the first round and eventually succumbed to a TKO.

Looking back on how his mouth got him into trouble with Malykhin, de Ridder admitted in a documentary produced by Threepeat Media (@threepeat on Instagram) that it was a mistake to keep calling out fighters:

“I was stupid enough to, after every fight I had, call out a heavyweight champion and run my mouth a little bit."

---

Fans chime in on de Ridder - Malykhin rematch

With the highly anticipated rematch set for March 1 in the main event of ONE 166 inside the Lusail Sports Arena in Qatar, many believe that Malykhin can overcome the odds of dropping down to middleweight and taking de Ridder’s ONE middleweight MMA world championship.

However, there are those heavily backing de Ridder retaining, pointing out that the lighter weight class will favor the Dutchman this time around.

ONE 166 is available live and for free to all Prime Video subscribers in the United States and Canada.