Reinier de Ridder on Anatoly Malykhin rematch: “It has to happen”

Reigning ONE middleweight world champion and former two-division king ‘The Dutch Knight’ Reinier de Ridder suffered a devastating setback last December, when he surrendered the light heavyweight strap to Russian mauler ‘Sladkiy’ Anatoly Malykhin.

Malykhin pulverized De Ridder, winning via first-round knockout in a fairly one-sided affair. It was a difficult loss for De Ridder, who was confident heading into the contest that he could eventually take ‘Sladkiy’ down and submit him.

For a man with a lot of pride, ‘The Dutch Knight’ simply can’t let this slide.

In a recent interview with South China Morning Post, De Ridder talked about how much the defeat to Malykhin has been weighing on his mind, and how determined he is to book the Russian in a rematch and reclaim his belt.

‘The Dutch Knight’ said:

“He won the first one but I need to work and get this one back. There's no other way. It has to happen one day.”

Catch the full interview below:

Whether or not De Ridder is able to corral Malykhin back into the ring is one thing. But that also depends on how the Russian stalwart does this week in his own upcoming match.

ONE interim heavyweight world champion ‘Sladkiy’ Anatoly Malykhin will attempt to unify the divisional belt when he takes on reigning ONE heavyweight world champion ‘Singh’ Arjan Bhullar at ONE Friday Fights 22.

The event will be broadcast live from the iconic Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand on Friday, June 23, in Asia primetime. Fans in the United States and Canada can catch all the action absolutely free via ONE Championship’s official YouTube channel and other digital platforms.

If Malykhin is successful in thwarting the talented wrestler Bhullar, he may have enough time to squeeze a rematch in with De Ridder before the year ends.