Reinier de Ridder wants ‘new blood’ as next challenger, looks at Anatoly Malykhin rematch in late 2023

Reinier de Ridder isn’t waiting for Anatoly Malykhin to drop down to middleweight.

The reigning ONE middleweight world champion wants to fight as soon as possible, and he’s in no mood to wait for Malykhin, the reigning ONE light heavyweight and heavyweight world champion, to shed the pounds.

In an Instagram video posted by the South China Morning Post, de Ridder said he’d want to face Malykhin late this year. As for his immediate bout, ‘The Dutch Knight’ looked at Shamil Erdogan as a potential challenger for his middleweight belt.

“So give me Shamil [Erdogan], give me some new blood in August or September, then we can settle our score in October or November. See you soon.”

Erdogan holds a perfect 9-0 in his professional career, and he had his first match under the ONE Championship banner on the same card Malykhin became the undisputed ONE heavyweight world champion.

The Turkish star dominated Fan Rong in their middleweight contest at ONE Friday Fights 22 this past Friday at the iconic Lumpinee Boxing Stadium.

After holding off the Chinese slugger in the first round, Erdogan ended the contest with a nasty liver kick for the second-round knockout.

De Ridder, meanwhile, last defended his middleweight throne in July 2022 when he submitted Vitaly Bigdash with a rare reverse triangle at ONE 158.

Though he’s unbeatable in the 205-pound division, de Ridder met his demise a weight class higher when Malykhin challenged him for the ONE light heavyweight world title.

Malykhin delivered de Ridder’s first loss at ONE on Prime Video 5 when he took the light heavyweight throne for himself in December 2022.

The Russian superstar then became a two-division undisputed world champion when he unified the heavyweight belts against Arjan Bhullar with a dominant third-round knockout at ONE Friday Fights 22.