“I think he has his hands full with the Russian cat” - Reinier de Ridder sounds off on the Bhullar vs. Malykhin fight

Two-division ONE world champion Reinier de Ridder will be watching closely when reigning ONE heavyweight world champion Arjan Bhullar meets top-ranked heavyweight contender Anatoly Malykhin in the Circle.

Bhullar will next face Malykhin, an undefeated Russian menace who earned his top contender status after a victory over Iranian wrestler Amir Aliakbari last September. The heavyweight title fight has yet to receive a confirmed date, but is expected to happen sometime early next year.

In a recent interview with ONE Championship, Reinier de Ridder admitted he was impressed with Malykhin’s performance and even believes the Russian fighter has all the tools necessary to beat Bhullar when they meet in the Circle.

“Well, Anatoly is a great striker, as well as a great wrestler. And I think that match would really depend on who can get the other guy down first. If Anatoly can keep it standing or take Arjan down, he will have a good chance of winning. I think he has his hands full with the Russian cat. So, we'll see how that pans out. But I'm still very interested [to fight Bhullar for the title]. It would be nice to write history.”

For his part, Reinier de Ridder has made his desire to face Bhullar for the heavyweight title down the road known. The 31-year-old champ-champ called out Bhullar following the Indo-Canadian's world title-winning performance against Filipino-American star Brandon Vera earlier this year.

Bhullar, for the most part, seemed disinterested with taking on ‘The Dutch Knight’, saying he believes Reinier de Ridder needs to focus on defending his middleweight and light heavyweight belts first before even thinking about challenging him for the heavyweight title.

---

Could Buchecha halt Reinier De Ridder’s heavyweight ambitions?

Apart from Bhullar, Reinier de Ridder revealed he has studied the rest of the ONE heavyweight landscape and admits he was impressed by what he saw, particularly by one of the promotion’s new heavyweight signings, Brazilian jiu-jitsu legend Marcus ‘Buchecha’ Almeida.

The decorated grappler made a perfect start to his professional MMA career last September, submitting Anderson ‘Braddock’ Silva with a north-south choke in under three minutes.

‘The Dutch Knight’ will have another chance to catch the Brazilian jiu-jitsu icon when 'Buchecha' makes his second appearance under the ONE banner against South Korean knockout artist Kang Ji Won at ONE: Winter Warriors on December 3.

Reinier de Ridder believes Kang Ji Won is the perfect litmus test to see how far 'Buchecha' can actually go in MMA.

“I was very impressed with 'Buchecha' in his last outing. He was very controlled on the feet, not emotional, very technical, very methodical, full control on the floor and wasn't rushing anything. [Buchecha’s next fight] is a very interesting one and it's a big step up in competition right away. Because Braddock was mostly a striker and the Korean kid can grapple as well. So it's a big step up and he has a lot more experience than ‘Buchecha’ has, so it's an interesting matchup. If he passes that test, then he's off to the races.”

If 'Buchecha' continues his run of form, Reinier de Ridder could have another fighter to deal with, as well as Bhullar and Malykhin.

Almeida may only be at the start of his MMA career, but if he picks up more victories in the heavyweight division, it could allow him to get a shot at gold before Reinier de Ridder's opportunity comes.