Can Vitaly Bigdash survive long enough to make this a competitive fight?

Very few people on this planet can say that they have what it takes to stand and bang with ONE middleweight and light heavyweight world champion Reinier de Ridder, but Vitaly Bigdash could very well be one of them.

Bigdash, the former ONE middleweight world champion, will try to reclaim the world title he once possessed when he challenges de Ridder in the main event of ONE 159:de Ridder vs. Bigdash this Friday, July 22nd. The even will broadcast live from the Singapore Indoor Stadium.

de Ridder has been in otherworldly form during his conquest of both the middleweight and light heavyweight divisions, with four of his six wins in ONE Championship coming via finish.

‘The Dutch Knight’ isn’t used to going the distance, however, providing a potential opening Bigdash can use. The Russian star can finish fights early — he does have three finishes in ONE Championship — but he’s also known to grind his opponents out with his wrestling.

Yes, de Ridder operates on a different gear early in his fight. However, should Bigdash weather the storm, he could possibly drag the two-division king into deep waters come the fourth and fifth rounds.

Bigdash can do to de Ridder what he did in his two victories over rival Aung La N Sang. ‘The Burmese Python’ was a marauder in the first three rounds in those two fights, yet he was ultimately subjected to Bigdash’s methodical wrestling and ground control in the later rounds.

The former middleweight king can also weather ungodly amounts of punishment during the early stages of his fights. Bigdash looked lost in his ONE Championship debut against then-middleweight world champion Igor Svirid in October 2015.

Svirid poured it on against Bigdash, but the Akhmat Fight Team fighter toughed it out and used his superior grappling to subdue ‘Lionheart’. After nearly securing the submission win at the end of the first round, Vitaly Bigdash came out in the second and claimed gold after a clinical ground-and-pound assault.

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Vitaly Bigdash’s game plan for reclaiming middleweight gold

Vitaly Bigdash has been vocal in his quest to reclaim his former chaampionship glory. After losing the ONE middleweight world title in 2017, he quickly climbed back up the ladder with three straight wins that culminated in his trilogy with Aung La.

Bigdash dispatched Yuki Niimura, Fan Rong, and eventually Aung La to set up his world title match against de Ridder. In those three fights, Bigdash used his superb grappling to control everything inside the circle.

Niimura and Fan fell via submission, while Aung La was beated down on the mat as Bigdash utilized his wrestling.

De Ridder is one of the best submission grapplers in ONE Championship’s MMA roster, with three of his six wins coming via tap-out. Bigdash, however, can use his wrestling to defend against de Ridder’s Brazilian jiu-jitsu and keep the fight standing.

If he can avoid getting taken down, which is easier said than done, then Vitaly Bigdash could very well subject de Ridder to his brand of Russian wrestling.