Check out ‘The Dutch Knight’ Reinier de Ridder’s insane ONE Championship debut in 2019

Back in January 2019, ONE Championship got introduced to one of its would-be dominant champions, Reinier de Ridder. 'The Dutch Knight' made short work of Fan Rong, a 14-1 fighter who was also making his ONE debut that night.

The fight really didn't look like a fight but rather a straight dismantling of a world-class athlete. Reinier de Ridder didn't look like he broke as sweat as he put the Chinese warrior to sleep with a tight D'Arce choke in the first round. It was quite a flawless performance.

After eating two hard inside leg kicks in the opening seconds, de Ridder went for his now-trademark single-leg takedown and immediately put Fan on his backside. From there, the Dutchman went methodical with his slow and pressuring top game. Inch by inch, de Ridder made Fan suffocate more and more with his heavy top pressure.

Eventually, de Ridder's overwhelming grappling barrage forced Fan to mistakenly expose his neck and arm, to which 'The Dutch Knight' took advantage. In a split second, de Ridder locked one of the tightest D'Arce chokes you'll ever see, putting Fan to sleep.

ONE commentator Michael Schiavello said it best:

"This man can put you to sleep faster than Nyquil".

Watch the full fight here:

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Reinier de Ridder will defend his ONE middleweight world title for a second time at ONE 159

After pretty much making ONE welterweight world champion Kiamrian Abbasov look like an amateur at ONE: Full Circle and pushing jiu-jitsu legend Andre Galvao to the limit at ONE X, Reinier de Ridder doesn't look like he's done with 2022 yet.

At ONE 159, 'The Dutch Knight' will face former ONE middleweight world champion Vitaly Bigdash in his second straight world title defense of his middleweight throne.

This epic showdown with Bigdash will surely be a different look for the double champion, as the Russian can offer different problems for the Dutchman to solve.

First, Bigdash is a more natural middleweight compared to welterweight world champion Abbasov and has faced (and beaten) de Ridder's toughest rival to date, Aung La N Sang. Bigdash will have a few new tricks up his sleeve coming into their July 22 bout.

The Russian also has a more well-rounded approach, excelling in both the striking and grappling aspects of the sport. One could argue that de Ridder has not faced a more well-rounded opponent than Bigdash.This could pose unique hurdles the grappling-based double-champ may not have overcome before.