"What else do I have to prove?" - Reinier de Ridder doesn't see the logic in having a trilogy bout with Aung La Nsang

Reinier de Ridder will be making his return to ONE Championship on February 25 at the Singapore Indoor Stadium. He's set to defend his middleweight title against Kiamrian Abbasov. Forecasting a win, 'The Dutch Knight' may welcome a fight with Vitaly Bigdash next, but not a trilogy bout with Aung La Nsang.

The 31-year-old fighter from the Netherlands is currently a two-division champion, holding both the middleweight and light heavyweight titles. The two belts were owned by 'The Burmese Phyton' before de Ridder took both championships from him.

Nsang is said to be competing on the same card as de Ridder and will be having a trilogy clash with Vitaly Bigdash.

Reinier de Ridder was asked by the South China Morning Post if he would welcome a fight against the winner of the matchup between Nsang and Bigdash. While he sees a bout with Bigdash happening, he doesn't see why a third fight with Nsang would.

"If it is Bigdash, yeah. It will be cool to see... because Bigdash did a lot of good work against Fong Hong as well... To be honest, the Aung fight doesn’t excite me anymore."

Having beaten Nsang twice in dominant fashion, de Ridder doesn't see ONE Championship putting on the match again. He thinks that would only be possible if the former champion comes in as a replacement fighter if something happens to his opponent.

"I finished him easily in the first fight, I dominated him for 25 minutes in the second, what else is there to prove? What else do I have to prove? Maybe this time don’t take him down and then beat him in a stand up? Maybe, who knows."

Catch Reinier de Ridder's interview with the South China Morning Post below:

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Reinier de Ridder is glad to see Aung La Nsang bouncing back from their previous encounter

Reinier de Ridder has not competed in ONE Championship since April 2021. With more than a year to just watch from the sidelines, he witnessed his former opponent get back on his feet with an impressive first-round KO win against Leandro Ataides.

"He did very well. It is good to see him back on the winning end. It was a shame for me personally because I really like to fight Leandro again. Would have been nice to see him win and then set up a fight with me. It was good to see Aung do what he does best."

Reinier de Ridder has remained unblemished in 14 professional bouts and is 5-0 in ONE Championship. Nine of those victories came from submissions and he won two of his fights in Asia's premier MMA promotion via decision.