Reigning ONE middleweight and light heavyweight world champion Reinier “The Dutch Knight” de Ridder doesn’t agree with Andre “Deco” Galvao‘s claim that he “played it safe” in their recent submission grappling match.
The two met in a pure grappling showdown at ONE X this past March. After 12 minutes of action with neither man scoring a submission, the match was declared a draw.
In a recent interview with ONE Championship, the Brazilian jiu-jitsu legend stated that he felt de Ridder was content to simply “survive” and not allow for any submission opportunities.
“The Dutch Knight,” who is currently preparing for his ONE middleweight world title defense against Vitaly Bigdash at ONE 159 on July 22, completely disagrees with Galvao’s assessment.
(Galvao) was the one (in guard), so I think he was in defense mode. But at the end, he got on top (and) he tried to pass a little bit,” de Ridder said. “But it was a bit of a back-and-forth match, and it was an honor to grapple with a guy like Galvao, and it was good fun.”
After the historic event, de Ridder went on a training holiday in the United States, where he traveled from gym to gym to practice with other high-profile athletes.
Most notably, the 31-year-old rolled with Brazilian jiu-jitsu superstars Garry Tonon, Marcus “Buchecha” Almeida, and ONE flyweight world champion Adriano Moraes, who heightened the two-division ONE world champion’s techniques.
With his upgraded grappling repertoire, de Ridder thinks the action would look different if he were to rematch Galvao in the future.
“Maybe now with the new skills, it might end differently,” de Ridder said.
De Ridder thinks he would dominate Galvao in MMA
De Ridder may end up facing Galvao again in the near future, but it could possibly happen in the realm of mixed martial arts, where “The Dutch Knight” is a two-division ONE world champion.
The Brazilian recently expressed interest in that scenario, but de Ridder believes “Deco” would be no match for him. What’s more, the Breda native predicts that he would quickly finish his esteemed adversary should they meet in his domain.
“It would be over pretty soon,” De Ridder said. “First round, some knees to the head, I imagine. Something like that would end it, but I don’t think we’ll see it anytime soon. But maybe one day. It would be cool.”
If the undefeated Dutchman gets past Bigdash at ONE 159 on July 22, then perhaps that day will come soon.
This story first published at ONEFC.com.
