Aung La N Sang admits he would follow similar game plan as Anatoly Malykhin in potential Reinier de Ridder trilogy

Aung La N Sang is no stranger to sharing the cage with ‘The Dutch Knight’ Reinier de Ridder.

In back-to-back fights, the former double champion lost both his middleweight and light heavyweight titles to the Dutchman with the challenger’s grappling prowess proving to be the difference.

In de Ridder’s last fight inside the circle, he was defeated for the very first time by undefeated Russian Anatoly Malykhin. With Malykhin’s clear size advantage and wrestling background, he was able to keep the fight standing and find a home for his devastating power, finishing the world champion in the opening round.

Despite his own performances against de Ridder, Aung La N Sang wasn’t surprised by how well Malykhin did against his former adversary. In fact, he learned a few things that he believes would give him an edge if he were to face ‘The Dutch Knight’ one more time.

In an interview with the South China Morning Post (SCMP) on YouTube, ‘The Burmese Python’ said:

“I mean, confidence I always have it in my head how I would fight him next. I would fight him again and what I need to improve on in my game, so yes. Technically speaking, that’s a very similar game plan that I would have to use to beat RDR.”

He added:

“I don’t see his striking drastically improving in the next six months or so if I were to fight him, so that would be the play.”

Watch the full interview below:

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Aung La N Sang says it will "be a lot easier" to fight in North America

At ONE Fight Night 10 on May 5, Aung La N Sang will look to keep his momentum going by picking up his third straight win. Facing off with China’s Fan Rong, there’s one key difference this time around compared to his previous fights.

ONE Fight Night 10 will be the promotion’s first event hosted in the United States. Live from the 1stBank Center in Broomfield, Colorado, the event will be a historic evening for ONE Championship.

Training out of Kill Cliff FC in Florida, the vastly different change in location benefits fighters like Aung La N Sang who will not need to fly across the world in order to compete.

In the same interview with SCMP, ‘The Burmese Python’ spoke about how he intends to make good use out of the opportunity to fight in North America for a change:

“I can bring more training partners, I can make it more, I can make preparations easier for the fight towards the end and I have a lot of things in my control than versus let’s say like in Singapore or even in like the worst example would be like in China where I couldn’t speak their language in a foreign country. I had a hard time getting the right food and such you know. But this one it’s gonna be a lot easier.”