“He really taught me a lot of cool stuff” - Reinier de Ridder on training with Gordon Ryan

Reigning ONE middleweight and light heavyweight world champion ‘The Dutch Knight’ Reinier de Ridder is known for his incredible grappling prowess as a mixed martial arts fighter. He is arguably one of the best, if not the best, MMA grapplers in the sport of MMA today.

But even he admits he is constantly learning new techniques to add to his ever evolving grappling game.

De Ridder spent some time in the United States earlier this year, touring America while visiting various gyms to train. During this time, the Breda, Netherlands, native was spotted training and rolling with none-other-than ADCC legend Gordon Ryan.

Speaking to The MMA Superfan in a recent interview, Reinier de Ridder talked about his time on the mats with arguably the greatest submission grappling fighter in history in Ryan.

‘The Dutch Knight’ said:

“Gordon is just on another level man. It was such an honor to train with him. We did rounds every day, multiple times a day. He really taught me a lot of cool stuff and some of the stuff he and John taught me, I've been working on ever since. Yeah, Gordon is, grappling-wise, he's on another planet right now.”

De Ridder is scheduled to face ONE interim heavyweight world champion Anatoly Malykhin this week in the main event of ONE on Prime Video 5 at the Mall of Asia Arena in Manila, Philippines. His ONE light heavyweight world title will be up for grabs. ‘The Dutch Knight’ will be looking to showcase his grappling supremacy yet again.

ONE on Prime Video 5: De Ridder vs. Malykhin will be broadcast live on Friday, December 2, and is free for fans in the United States and Canada with an Amazon Prime subscription.

Catch the whole interview below:

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Reinier de Ridder says he’s open to joining ONE’s submission grappling scene

Reinier de Ridder is one of the most lethal submission experts in ONE Championsip’s mixed martial arts scene, and he feels he’ll transition well into the promotion’s burgeoning submission grappling roster.

In an interview with Morning Kombat, the Dutch superstar said he’d be down to compete in submission grappling matches. De Ridder, however, maintained that MMA will always be his top priority.

'The Dutch Knight' said:

"Definitely, I’d be down for that, like if they have a good opponent for me. But MMA is the main thing. MMA is the focus. The focus is definitely in MMA. But if the right name comes along, I’d take a grappling fight. When MMA is done and I’m 40 years old, I’ll do some more masters competitions, I guess.”

Reinier de Ridder is a perfect 16-0 in his career and is at 7-0 in his MMA matches in ONE Championship. Of his seven wins inside the circle, four saw him take a submission finish.

Catch the whole interview below: