Reinier de Ridder plugged the holes in his game ahead of Anatoly Malykhin rematch: “Fix all the little details”

Reinier de Ridder plans to leave no room for error when he steps onto the global stage on March 1.

The middleweight MMA world champion has been critical of himself after suffering his first career loss to Anatoly Malykhin in his last MMA outing inside the Circle.

He, however, has channeled whatever negativity from that loss to 'Sladkiy' into positivity before he runs it back against the Russian in the main event of ONE 166: Qatar inside the Lusail Sports Arena.

Reinier de Ridder told Sportskeeda MMA in an exclusive interview:

"[Since that loss] it has been different. I've really gotten back to it. I need to earn that right. I need to grind. I need to put in all the work. Fix all the little details to get the right to finish the guy. So, hopefully, I will."

Watch the full interview here:

While Reinier de Ridder seems fired up to go toe-to-toe with the two-division king, accepting his loss and the mental block that followed wasn't easy to overcome.

Like the champion he is, though, the Breda native went back to the drawing board, kept his options open, and incorporated new tactics into his camp to ensure he would be ready for the inevitable opportunity to face the Russian slugger.

Now that the time has arrived, after almost 14 months of wait, ‘The Dutch Knight’ hopes to exact revenge, defend his middleweight world title, and have the last laugh when he steps on the global stage against Malykhin on March 1.

---

Revenge is the ‘one thing’ on Reinier de Ridder’s mind

There was no love lost between Reinier de Ridder and Anatoly Malykhin as they took to the stage for the official ONE 166: Qatar press conference yesterday.

‘Sladkiy’ was at his usual best throughout the session, taking aim at ‘The Dutch Knight’ at every chance.

While the Breda native refused to engage in too much confrontational talk, he did remind the light heavyweight and heavyweight king that revenge is a dish best served cold.

He said:

“It’s about one thing. He beat me last time. He hurt me. I’ve got a year to prepare for this. I [have] grinded every single day, and I’m ready to showcase my skills this time.”

ONE 166: Qatar will be available to North American fans with an active Amazon Prime Video subscription.