Former two-weight ONE MMA World Champion Reinier de Ridder rose to the top of ONE Championship, becoming a formidable force. He’s been terrorizing the world of MMA long before his UFC tenure began, and that only highlights the depth of ONE’s MMA realm.
“The Dutch Knight” carved out his third consecutive stoppage win in the UFC this past Saturday, 3 May, dispatching surging UFC star Bo Nickal in round two.
Given ONE’s dominance in Asia and its commitment to broadcasting the very best Muay Thai practitioners, many fans have been quick to overlook the caliber of MMA stars in ONE Championship.
But de Ridder ruled across the middleweight and light-heavyweight MMA divisions. He toppled stars such as Vitaly Bigdash, former welterweight king Kiamrian Abbasov, and former two-weight champ Aung La N Sang to simultaneously hold dual gold.
Given that, it speaks volumes of the skill set possessed by the man who stripped him of those belts handily — Anatoly Malykhin.
“Sladkiy” dispatched the Dutch standout in December 2022 to take the light-heavyweight throne with a first-round knockout. He then followed that up with a third-round TKO victory at ONE 166 in March 2024 to snatch De Ridder’s middleweight gold.
So, as de Ridder looks to close in on a UFC title shot, fans should not be so quick to count out the repertoire on hand in ONE Championship.
