“Her jiu-jitsu looked pretty good” - Reinier de Ridder breaks down ONE X main event, picks winner

Recently, ONE Championship double champ Reinier de Ridder gave his take on the historic main event of ONE X. The much-hyped atomweight bout between 'Unstoppable' Angela Lee and Stamp Fairtex has been making the rounds in MMA media. Fans, pundits and fighters alike are all giving their take, including 'The Dutch Knight'

Speaking to ONE Championship, the dominant double champ, who is also fighting Brazilian jiu jitsu legend Andre Galvao in a submnission grappling match at ONE X, gave his thoughts:

"So it's an interesting one because Stamp is not an MMA fighter, you know. But the last time seeing her win by armbar, her jiu-jitsu looked pretty good, pretty solid. So she might be able to do well on the floor for at least a little bit. And in the stand-up, she has the advantage most likely. Angela is back from a long layoff. She's had the baby so I'm not sure which Angela we'll see. So it's a hard one to predict, to be honest. But the safe bet will be Angela, I guess I'll go with Angela."

So there we have it. Reinier de Ridder has spoken and it's best that we pay attention. The double champ is one of the best grapplers in the game today and has dealt with a lot of world-class strikers and come out on top. If he sees that Angela Lee has an advantage due to her grappling, 'The Dutch Knight' knows what he is talking about.

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Reinier de Ridder faces Andre Galvao in a submission grappling match at ONE X

Following a successful title defense a month ago against ONE welterweight champ Kiamrian Abbasov, Reinier de Ridder took the mic and made a legendary callout. The famed double champ announced his plans to fight just a few weeks later at ONE X.

His opponent, none other than Brazilian jiu jitsu legend Andre Galvao. And get this: he claimed he wanted to take on Galvao in his own game, submission grappling.

Shortly after, the mega fight was announced to take place in ONE's biggest event yet. In an interview with SCMP MMA, Reinier de Ridder talked about the fight, how it came to be and what it means for him:

“I got the word a week before the [Abbvasov] fight. They called me and they said that ‘We have something nice for you.’ I was thrilled, man. I'm very happy with this one.”

Beating a multi-time jiujitsu champion and legend of the sport like Galvao in his own backyard is an achievement reserved only for legends. If de Ridder miraculously submits Galvao on March 26, that would make him part of a very small group of grapplers in history. That, for us, is worth the shot.