'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Reinier de Ridder is single-minded in his approach to his return at ONE 166, which could be the biggest fight of his career.
‘The Dutch Knight’ hasn’t competed in MMA since suffering the first loss of his career back at ONE on Prime Video 5, where he was stopped in the first round by Anatoly Malykhin.
He will now look to put the bad memories of that fight behind him when he faces Malykhin in a rematch, this time with his ONE middleweight world championship on the line.
The defending champion has been blocking out any external factors during the build-up to March 1 at the Lusail Sports Arena in Qatar.
Trending
Reinier de Ridder told the South China Morning Post that he has paid little interest to some of the comments and actions from the always confident Malykhin ahead of this fight:
“No, I don't care about this noise [Anatoly Malykhin wearing shirts taking a dig at his opponents]. I don't care whatever it is, it’s just this entire social media thing, I think it has had its best time. Too much of it is not good for the mind.”
Watch the full interview below:
All Reinier de Ridder can do is be at his very best
This rematch has been a long time coming, especially if you ask Reinier de Ridder himself who has been itching to get back in there and correct his mistakes.
‘The Dutch Knight’ has been especially critical of his performance in that first encounter with Malykhin and believes he can make the right adjustments to ensure victory at the second time of asking.
For de Ridder, he isn’t going to let anything take his mind off of the task at hand having lived and breathed it ever since the aftermath of ONE on Prime Video 5.
He may have admitted to taking his eye off the ball against Malykhin in their first fight, but the same mistakes will not be repeated on March 1.
ONE 166: Qatar will air live and free via Prime Video for North American viewers with an active subscription on March 1.
