Reinier de Ridder breaks down how he took two titles from Aung La Nsang in new Visubal documentary

Reinier de Ridder’s two victories over former two-division world champion ‘The Burmese Python’ Aung La Nsang were no doubt impressive.

‘The Dutch Knight’ took the ONE middleweight world title from Aung La at ONE: Inside the Matrix in October of 2020. He then took the ONE light heavyweight world title at ONE on TNT IV just months later. Needless to say, de Ridder has truly been a thorn in Aung La’s side on more than one occasion.

In a recently released documentary by Visubal, de Ridder detailed his world title-winning performances over the Myanmar icon to capture both belts:

“I knew he was the greatest champion ONE had, a great striker, lots of power, and can take a shot like nobody else. And I knew he was a dangerous opponent. But I knew he was one that I could stop.”

Reinier de Ridder’s first fight against Aung La Nsang in particular was a showcase of expert grappling. 'The Dutch Knight' had a robust game plan laid out, and executed it to near-perfection:

“The first fight, I step in and think I have the option to take him down, but I don’t. I get hit with an uppercut. He sticks his finger up and goes ‘one,’ and I go, ‘f*ck this guy, I’m going to destroy him right now.’ The moment I grab him, I know he’s going for a ride.”

In a display of grappling mastery, de Ridder lays the trap and Aung La falls for it. The world then witnessed the birth of a new world champion:

“I give him the idea he can escape, so I take out one hook, I take one leg out. He thinks he can escape, gets up. I get up with him, adjust my position, and get it perfectly. I know I can finish him here and I keep squeezing and squeezing. I know he’s going to tap. He taps, and that’s it.”

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Reinier de Ridder: Going for triple champ status

Double-champ status has become somewhat commonplace in the world of mixed martial arts. Conor McGregor previously held the featherweight and lightweight belts in the UFC, and Martin Nguyen did the same in ONE Championship a few years back. However, a fighter holding three world titles concurrently has never been done.

That’s the kind of history Reinier de Ridder is gunning for.

On February 25th at ONE: Full Circle, ‘The Dutch Knight’ will need to defend his middleweight title first against ONE welterweight world champion Kiamrian Abbasov. Assuming he beats Abbasov, there’s no reason why ONE would not allow him to go after the latter’s welterweight title as a reward. Which means we could possibly have the first triple champ in MMA history on our hands.