ONE Championship: Reinier de Ridder says defeat helped him gain focus, ready for Malykhin rematch in Qatar
- Dutchman putting middleweight belt on line against undefeated Russian Anatoly Malykhin at ONE 166
- First round knockout ended previous light-heavyweight clash, de Ridder’s first loss in ONE Championship
Losing was an unfamiliar feeling for Reinier de Ridder before he stepped into the ring with undefeated Russian Anatoly Malykhin.
The Dutchman had not lost in eight ONE Championship fights heading into the pair’s MMA light-heavyweight title match at ONE Fight Night 5, with a draw against Andre Galvao the only slight blemish on an otherwise spotless record.
Malykhin needed less than five minutes to change all that, knocking de Ridder out in a bruising encounter in Manila on December 3, 2022.
“It was rough at the beginning, to lose especially in this fashion with the knockout, but we’re pretty privileged that we can experience these deep lows and amazing highs,” de Ridder said. “Most people sit in front of a computer screen or an office and never get to experience this. We get to experience it every couple of months, it has been a lot of highs but this time it was a low.”
The pair will meet again at ONE 166 in Qatar on Friday. This time the MMA middleweight title is on the line at Lusail Sports Arena, and de Ridder faces the possibility of a third defeat in a row, having lost by unanimous decision to Tye Ruotolo at ONE Fight Night 10 last May.
One of the biggest things de Ridder took away from that loss was the need to show attention to detail, acknowledging that winning so often may have made him confident to the point of carelessness.
“We have been putting in the work to cover everything, every small detail,” he said. “I kind of lost track of that because it was just me choking people out, and I thought ‘this is just how fights go, this is who I am’. I kind of lost the focus on the small little things that helped me to be that guy.”
In their previous encounter, the pair had to weigh in at 225lbs. Malykhin already held the heavyweight title and it was the lightest he had ever been as a professional fighter.
This time around de Ridder’s middleweight belt is on the line, with the weight limit set at 205lbs or less, and the Dutchman thinks this division suits him much better.
“Middleweight is my weight class, I’m no heavyweight, I’m no light-heavyweight,” he said. “This is my natural weight class so it’s going to be middleweight for now. No more calling out heavyweights.”
A submission specialist, de Ridder has yet to test his opponent’s ground game after a first fight that was little more than a slugfest.
“The plan is to choke him out of course, this is my bread and butter, this is what I love and that’s what is going to happen,” de Ridder said. “But I’m going into it with more of an open mind this time.”
Defeat forced the 33-year-old to reflect on who he was and why he wanted to compete, he now has a definitive answer to both questions.
“I still have that fire inside of me,” he said. “I am still capable of beating whoever they put in front of me.”
