“I've been working very hard” - Reinier de Ridder credits "tough rounds" at Hemmers Gym for improved striking

Reinier de Ridder believes that in his first fight with Anatoly Malykhin, he wasn’t able to showcase the real extent of his striking skills.

He is now looking to change this in his middleweight title defense with the undefeated two-weight world champion at ONE 166: Qatar.

In order to specifically dedicate his time to working on the intricacies of his striking, ‘The Dutch Knight’ has been making use of the world class gyms in his home country.

He spoke about his preparations for this rematch during a recent interview with ONE Championship:

“But the thing that's most important to me, and what is really close to my heart is the technical aspect, which I've been working on very hard. And I've been doing a lot of my striking work at Hemmers Gym. I've done this in the past, but not as consistently and as much focused on it as I have right now.”

Reinier de Ridder continued, adding that he doesn’t always spend time in this gym because of the tough kill or be killed nature but that’s exactly what he was after ahead of this fight:

“Because it's always very tough to go there. There's like five or six pro heavyweight kickboxers. There, they are keen on knocking anybody out who steps into the gym, and I'm that guy, you know. Oh, you're a champion? Let me see if I can knock you out.

"So it's always very, very tough rounds. But that's one of the things that I've been trying to put into practice, all the technical work I've been doing for striking offense and defense.”

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Reinier de Ridder will not make the same mistakes twice

Reinier de Ridder has openly admitted that he took Anatoly Malykhin too lightly ahead of ONE on Prime Video 5.

His previous title defenses had come with relative ease and without truly being tested on the feet, striking with any opponent wasn’t too much of a concern.

His training at Hemmers Gym is the perfect example of how he won’t make the same mistake twice going into their rematch at the Lusail Sports Arena in Qatar.

March 1 finally gives him the opportunity to get this win back and reap the rewards of the time he has spent throwing himself in at the deep end with world class strikers.

ONE 166: Qatar will air live and free via Prime Video for North American viewers with an active subscription on March 1.