“That’s just how it works” - Reinier de Ridder admits he underestimated Anatoly Malykhin in midst of near-flawless MMA run

ONE middleweight MMA world champion Reinier de Ridder opened up about underestimating two-division king Anatoly Malykhin before their first fight.

In December 2022, De Ridder’s callout was granted as he was scheduled to defend his ONE light heavyweight MMA world title against Malykhin. The world-class fighters met in the ONE on Prime Video 5 main event, with the Russian dethroning ‘The Dutch Knight’ with a first-round knockout.

De Ridder held a 16-0 professional MMA record before getting knocked out by Malykhin. After dethroning the Dutch star, Malykhin captured his second piece of undisputed gold when he beat Arjan Bhullar for the undisputed ONE heavyweight MMA world title.

On March 1, De Ridder will put his ONE middleweight world title on the line in a rematch against Malykhin in the ONE 166: Qatar main event. Ahead of the highly-anticipated rematch, ‘The Dutch Knight’ did an interview with THREEPEAT MEDIA and had this to say about his first loss:

“When you do something sixteen times, and it kind of all works out every time, you think this is just how fights go. I step in a cage, I see the guy on the other side, I walk to him, take him down, choke him out. That’s just how it works. That’s just how fights would go until they didn’t go like that.”

ONE 166: Qatar goes down inside the Lusail Sports Arena in Lusail. The event can be seen live and for free by North American viewers with an active Amazon Prime Video subscription.

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Reinier de Ridder plans to use well-rounded approach in Anatoly Malykhin rematch

Reinier de Ridder holds a professional MMA record of 16-1, with eleven wins by submission. Therefore, ‘The Dutch Knight’ is considered a grappling specialist with reliable striking.

In his first fight against Anatoly Malykhin, De Ridder struggled with the Russian’s power, a similar concern going into the rematch. Yet, the ONE middleweight MMA king had this to say about utilizing his striking at ONE 166: Qatar in an interview with Sherdog:

“The balance has to be right, and in MMA, you can go too far to one or the other pretty easily.”

De Ridder has competed in one submission grappling match since fighting Malykhin - a unanimous decision loss against Tye Ruotolo. Meanwhile, Malykhin became an undisputed two-division world champion by capturing the undisputed heavyweight MMA world title and now plans to become the first simultaneous three-division king.