3 keys to victory for Vitaly Bigdash at ONE 159

Vitaly Bigdash is just hours away from an opportunity he has waited more than five years to receive. In the main event of ONE 159 on Friday, July 22, he'll step into the circle against two-division world champion Reinier de Ridder with ONE middleweight gold on the line.

Looking to hand ‘The Dutch Knight’ his first ‘O’ in mixed martial arts, Bigdash has a huge task ahead of him.

Reinier de Ridder has been northing short of spectacular in his ONE Championship run thus far. With 15 career wins and 10 via submission, it’s clear why he is the general consensus favorite, but you can’t completely count out the Russian beast.

Bigdash carries with him the tools and the talent to shock the world on Friday night. Let’s take a look at some of the keys that could open the door to a world title win for the Russian challenger at ONE 159.

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#3. Vitaly Bigdash can take Reinier de Ridder’s back

Of course, that’s easier said than done, but Vitaly Bigdash has the grappling skills to pull it off. If he can initiate a grappling exchange and force ‘The Dutch Knight’ to give up his back, the undefeated champ would likely be stimied.

As evidenced in his fight against submission grappling legend Andre Galvao at ONE X, de Ridder’s offense was rendered ineffective when the multi-time Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champion put him in that position.

Granted, Galvao is a BJJ legend with far superior skills to that of Vitaly Bigdash, but the Russian could enact a similar game plan to eliminate de Ridder’s grappling threat.

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#2. Outlast the early rounds

Being a ONE world championship bout, Friday's headliner will be contested across five five-minute rounds, if necessary. While many believe Bigdash needs to strike early in the first two rounds if he’s going to walk out the winner, that isn’t necessarily true should Bigdash fight smart and reserve his gas tank for the championship rounds if needed.

Bigdash is familiar with going a full five rounds. He did it twice with Aung La N Sang and they also fought through three rounds in their trilogy bout at ONE: Full Circle. In comparison, ‘The Dutch Knight has only gone the distance twice in 15 career fights. With that said, it’s very possible that as we get into the later rounds, de Ridder will begin to fatigue.

If Bigdash can conserve some of his energy rather than throwing everything he has into the first 10 minutes, he may be able to take advantage of a tired de Ridder in the championship rounds.

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#1. Force de Ridder to backpedal

Leandro Ataides may have stumbled upon a potential blueprint to defeating ‘The Dutch Knight’ during their contest at ONE: Warrior’s Code in 2020. ‘Wolf’ had a lot of success in the constant by pushing the pace and attacking to force the Dutchman backwards. Presenting a serious knockout threat, de Ridder was forced to retreat repeatedly.

Forcing the champion to backpedal, Ataides was able to hinder de Ridder’s ability to shoot for a takedown. When he was finally able to clinch up, 'The Dutch Knight' was past the point of exhaustion and as a result, allowed Ataides to get the upper hand in some of the grappling exchanges.

If Vitaly Bigdash follows a similar game plan by putting pressure on de Ridder throughout the course of the bout, he can impede the grappling of ‘The Dutch Knight’ and keep him on his feet where Bigdash has the clear advantage.

This will be the Russian’s best chance at scoring a spectacular knockout or getting a decision should it go the full 25 minutes.