Reinier de Ridder (16-0) has two golden ONE world title belts wrapped around his waist, and he’s not looking to part with either of them any time soon.
So, when he defends his light heavyweight strap against ONE interim heavyweight world champion Anatoly Malykhin (11-0) at ONE on Prime Video 5 this Friday, expect only the best from “The Dutch Knight.”
De Ridder wasn’t originally slotted to face Malykhin this weekend.
Initially, he was scheduled to meet another Russian, Shamil Abdulaev, in October. However, circumstances changed – and so did his opponent.
That said, de Ridder thinks the ONE interim heavyweight world champion poses a more dangerous threat, and that type of challenge excites him.
“I like this fight,” the 32-year-old offered. “Malykhin is the real heavyweight champ as far as I’m concerned because (ONE heavyweight world champion Arjan) Bhullar has been inactive for so long. So, yeah, it’s the right fight. It’s a cool fight to make.”
Compared to previous opponents that the undefeated Dutchman has faced, de Ridder does not feel threatened by the Russian’s history inside the ONE circle.
The 16-0 submission machine expects an explosive battle, but he does not see the heavyweight slugger as a viable threat to his status as ONE light heavyweight world champion.
In fact, it’s an adversary who the two-division champ thinks he has faced many times before.
With his homework now done, de Ridder plans to dismiss the 11-0 heavyweight inside the opening frame, and he plans to do it in the very same way in which he dispatched Malykhin’s friend, Vitaly Bigdash, in July.
“Malykhin is dangerous, of course. We’ve seen that in his previous fights. He knocks people out. He’s wild. He’s explosive. He’s an interesting opponent, but he doesn’t bring anything really special to the table,” de Ridder said.
“The first two minutes are very important in this fight because he’s going to come out strong, he’s going to try and press forward. And I’m going to come out strong, I’m going to be in the middle of the ONE circle. You’ll see me dominant from the first second.
“I think I can hit him with some good stuff because I’m more rangy. I think I can get in his face and hit him with some good jabs and with some good kicks. Clinch him, take him down. I see me controlling him on the floor, hitting him with some elbows, hitting him with some knees, and I see myself choking him out at the end of the first.”
Fans in the U.S. and Canada can watch ONE on Prime Video 5 live and for free with an Amazon Prime membership and see for themselves if RDR’s prediction comes true on Friday night.
