“That’s a fight that I’m really looking forward to” - Reinier de Ridder excited for Superbon vs. Chingiz Allazov

ONE middleweight world champion Reinier de Ridder is just as excited as the fans for the upcoming main event of ONE Fight Night 6 on Prime Video. At ONE’s first event of the year this Friday, Superbon Singha Mawynn will look to defend his ONE featherweight kickboxing world championship against Chingiz Allazov.

The long-anticipated matchup has been on the cards since ONE X. On the same night, Superbon defended his world title against Marat Grigorian, and Allazov won the ONE Featherweight Kickboxing World Grand Prix, setting up a huge fight at the top of the pound-for-pound list.

In an interview with ONE Championship, middleweight king Reinier de Ridder spoke about his excitement for this matchup, drawing on his first-hand experience of training with Marat Grigorian:

“Great fight, man. I’m very excited about that one. Superbon defeated Marat [Grigorian] last time. Marat trains in the same city as I do, at Hemmers Gym. I go train with them every once in a while, and it was crazy seeing how well Superbon did [against him]."

He added:

“His teeps are on another level. His knees are crazy. Everything is coming together for him right now. So that’s amazing. But Chingiz looked unstoppable last time as well. So that’s a fight that I’m really looking forward to.”

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Former two-division king Reinier de Ridder resurfaces; teases return to defend middleweight belt

After tasting defeat for the first time in his career, former double-world champion Reinier de Ridder is gearing up for his return to the circle in 2023. At ONE on Prime Video 5, ‘The Dutch Knight’ suffered his first loss in attempting to defend his ONE light heavyweight world championship against ONE interim heavyweight world champion Anatoly Malykhin.

Whilst he may have lost one of his world titles, de Ridder is ready to come back stronger and remind the middleweight division that he is still the world champion. In a post on Instagram, de Ridder shared a picture of himself holding the 26.4 pounds of gold with the caption:

“2023 defending what’s mine. 🫡 MIDLEWEIGHTCHAMP @onechampionship”

Though he may be done with the light heavyweight division for the time being, Anatoly Malykhin may not be done with trying to take the Dutchman’s world championships.

After knocking out de Ridder in the first round of their world champion vs. world champion clash, the Russian juggernaut teased the possibility of moving down even further to challenge for Reinier de Ridder’s last remaining title.

Typically competing at heavyweight, it is unclear whether the Russian could make the drop down to two weight classes safely. For now, he is scheduled to try and unify the heavyweight world championships against ONE heavyweight world champion Arjan Bhullar.