"Everybody is very kind and very welcoming" - Reinier de Ridder reveals how he ended up training at Sanford MMA

Reinier de Ridder was seen training at Sanford MMA last week to the delight of fans, and he bared that it was a planned trip after all.

In an exclusive interview with ONE Championship, de Ridder shared that he had a great time at the famed gym and revealed how his visit came about.

“Until now, it's been amazing. It's been great to train with the guys here. I'm very happy that I've been made welcome after the fights Aung [La N Sang] and I have had. Last time I was in Singapore, I chatted a bit with [Sanford MMA head coach] Henri [Hooft] and he told me, 'Why don't you come out?' So I brought the family, brought the kids and my wife and spent some time here, first in Miami, and then we'll travel a bit more.”

At Sanford MMA, de Ridder had a chance to spar with former rival Aung La N Sang and other top fighters who train in the gym.

‘The Dutch Knight’ made the most of his opportunity to pick the brains of these top-level guys, who welcomed him into their home with open arms. De Ridder continued by saying:

“I've had a full week of training last week and these are the last two days. The level is very high, it's nice to have a lot of good guys to spar with and to train with. I've been working on some new stuff, some interesting stuff, which they are helping me with, and there's guys from all organizations at the top level, so it's cool to spar with them, learn with them, train with everybody here. I've had the pleasure to do some rounds with Aung as well which is very nice. Everybody is very kind and very welcoming so I'm very happy to be here. I'll definitely be back another time.”

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Reinier de Ridder plans to work on his grappling with Gordon Ryan next

Since he is already in the US, Reinier de Ridder shared that he will be visiting another top fighter to hone his skills on the mat.

In the same interview, De Ridder said that he is flying out to train with arguably the best grappler in the world today, Gordon Ryan, and his legendary coach, John Danaher.

“This Wednesday I'm flying out to Austin to train with Gordon and Danaher there for about a week so I'll let you know how that goes as well, I'll update you on what else is going on there!”

Days after scoring a draw against Andre Galvao at ONE: X, de Ridder earned praise from Ryan in the comments section of the ‘The Dutch Knight’s’ Instagram post. De Ridder took it as a chance to express his desire to train with him soon.