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It didn’t take long for Reinier de Ridder to feel the immense power of Anatoly Malykhin.
The two world champions got locked in the Circle for the first time when de Ridder defended his ONE light heavyweight MMA world title against Malykhin at ONE on Prime Video 5.
De Ridder held a perfect 16-0 MMA record up to that point and was unabashedly confident in heading into the Manila thriller, but Malykhin had different plans.
In an interview with ONE Championship, Reinier de Ridder recounted the terrifying presence Malykhin possessed and how that power factored into the Russian star's first-round knockout win.
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“Now, to be honest, I was already hurt pretty early. So I walked into a right hand like stupidly twice in the beginning minute and I just wasn't myself afterwards. I'm not too sure if I was surprised, but I just don't think I was thinking that far ahead. But just every entry I made just didn't feel like I had a shot.”
Malykhin, who held just the ONE interim heavyweight MMA world title at that point, swarmed de Ridder with a barrage of haymakers that forced the referee to stop the match 4:35 into the first.
‘Sladkiy’ ultimately became a two-division undisputed world champion when he beat Arjan Bhullar for the undisputed ONE heavyweight MMA world title at ONE Friday Fights 22.
Reinier de Ridder eyes redemption in Qatar against Anatoly Malykhin
Reinier de Ridder wouldn’t let his loss to Anatoly Malykhin fester for much longer.
‘The Dutch Knight’ will defend his last remaining piece of hardware, the ONE middleweight MMA world title, against Malykhin in the main event of ONE 166 on March 1.
ONE 166 is ONE Championship’s first on-site event in Qatar, and de Ridder plans to use that stage to achieve redemption in the Gulf nation.
In an interview with InTheCage, de Ridder said:
“I'm very happy that they finally offered me this fight, it's the one that I've been asking for. So I'm happy it's happening. I'm happy I get a chance to redeem myself and to correct the mistakes I made so let's see if I can.”
ONE 166 is available live and free to all Prime Video subscribers in the United States and Canada.
Watch de Ridder's entire interview below:
