No fighter has discovered the secret to defeating ONE middleweight and light heavyweight world champion Reinier de Ridder.
His impressive winning streak inside the Circle could be boiled down to three characteristics that the Dutchman has in abundance – dedication, hard work and determination. That says nothing of the quick-thinking and sublime Brazilian jiu-jitsu skills that have helped him overcome countless top competitors in the past.
The fighter, known as ‘The Dutch Knight’, is confident that his unbeaten streak will continue against Kiamrian Abbasov when they face off for his middleweight title at ONE: Full Circle next Friday, February 25.
In recent interviews, Reinier de Ridder openly admitted that he doesn’t think much of Abbasov’s skill set. From his point of view, his arsenal is miles ahead of the Kyrgyzstani fighter.
His latest Instagram post aimed at ‘Brazen’ shows how fired up the champion is about defending the 93kg title at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.
“Habitual hard f*****g work. The animal is out. #9days.”
The two-division king is expected to land in ‘The Lion City’ by the end of the week to partake in the usual pre-fight interviews, weigh-ins and faceoffs. However, despite his busy schedule, the Dutchman is never short of time to remind his next rival that he better come prepared or risk facing the best version of ‘The Dutch Knight’.
Reinier de Ridder and Abbasov’s battle will serve as the main event of the promotion’s fourth show of the year. The tilt will be the first title defense for the Dutchman and the first time ‘Brazen’ competes in the middleweight division.
The Combat Brothers representative and the 28-year-old title contender have five wins each on the global stage, so expect their bout to be a barnburner.
Reinier de Ridder targets at least four fights this year – “Just line them up”
If Reinier De Ridder can leave Singapore with a quick highlight-reel knockout, it will give him a better chance of competing more actively in 2022. After all, that is his main goal.
The Dutchman told ONE:
“The only thing I want is matches, as much as possible. Line them up and I’ll knock ‘em back. Give me a fight every quarter. I don’t care who. Just line them up.”
The 31-year-old has huge plans this year, some of which involve defending his world titles. However, ‘The Dutch Knight’ is also eyeing a move up to the heavyweight division to challenge either Anatoly Malykhin or Arjan Bhullar for the heavyweight crown.
If Reinier de Ridder succeeds in defending his belt next Friday and pushes to heavyweight, he could potentially become the Singapore-based promotion’s first-ever three-division champion.
The Dutchman isn’t too concerned about who he’ll share the Circle with next, but he is confident that he’ll protect his undefeated record and show why he is the most dominant force in MMA today.
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