“That would be the biggest achievement of my life” – Reinier de Ridder talks about beating Andre Galvao

Reinier de Ridder is fresh off his victory over ONE welterweight world champion Kiamrian Abbasov at ONE: Full Circle. He’s already looking forward to his next bout, which he says could potentially become the ‘biggest achievement’ of his career.

Following his successful middleweight world title defense against Abbasov, de Ridder proceeded to call out Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champion Andre Galvao. He challenged Galvao to a grappling match at ONE: X, ONE Championship’s historic 10-year anniversary extravaganza on March 26.

While de Ridder said it was ONE’s idea, he has totally embraced the challenge and is looking forward to rolling with the grappling legend. And while the match hasn’t been officially confirmed by the promotion, it’s already firmly in the two-division champion’s mind.

In a recent interview with SCMP MMA, de Ridder talked about how the idea came to be and what it means to him. He said:

“I got the word a week before the [Abbvasov] fight. They called me and they said that ‘we have something nice for you.’ I was thrilled, man. I’m very happy with this one.”

When asked where a victory over Galvao would rank in terms of achievements in his career, de Ridder said that being a jiu-jitsu guy himself, it would be at the very top. He added:

“For me, personally, at the very highest, at the top. Because I got into the sport, the jiu-jitsu side, and when I started, he was the guy who was beating everybody. And actually, he still is, 10 years later, he still is. So for me, that would be the biggest achievement of my life.”

Watch Reinier de Ridder’s interview with SCMP MMA below:

Reinier de Ridder wants to choke out Andre Galvao, fight Gordon Ryan next

It appears that the sky’s the limit for Reinier de Ridder. With all that he’s accomplished in the Circle so far, he says he’s only beginning to scratch the surface of what’s possible.

For de Ridder, beating Galvao is just the start. He’s open to facing Gordon Ryan and other grappling stars in the future. ‘The Dutch Knight’ said:

“Yeah, man, who would have thought when I started this jiu-jitsu stuff that I could be grappling with one of the best in the world, one of the best to ever do it. Man, it’s a huge honor. And to even consider that, I think I have a shot to choke this guy out. So that’s cool, man. That’s so cool.”

He added:

“I’ve tested my skills against the elite, and I’ve come on top every time. So why not against this guy? It’s a big jump. It’s a huge competition. But I think I’m up for it.”

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