Reinier de Ridder is ‘curious’ to see how the Anatoly Malykhin and Arjan Bhullar fight goes

Former ONE light heavyweight world champion and reigning middleweight king Reinier de Ridder has a very big fight coming up against Tye Ruotolo, at perhaps ONE Championship’s biggest event in history.

However, the 32-year-old from Breda, Netherlands can’t help but comment on a very important upcoming matchup that he has a vested interest in.

Reigning ONE heavyweight world champion Arjan Bhullar and ONE interim heavyweight world champion Anatoly Malykhin are set to unify their belts at ONE Fight Night 12 this July, and De Ridder is curious to see exactly how this fight plays out.

In a recent interview with YouTube channel, The MMA Superfan, De Ridder talked about Malykhin specifically, and how interested he is to see how the Russian knockout artist fares against a world-class wrestler in Bhullar.

‘The Dutch Knight’ said:

“So I think he’s still developing and he might even be a lot better than in our fight. I’m very interested. I’m very curious to see what happens in that fight.”

The previously unbeaten De Ridder lost to Malykhin last December in Manila via a destructive first-round knockout. Prior to that setback, De Ridder was on top of the world and seemingly unbeatable. Unfortunately, he ran into an absolute freight train of a man.

Reinier de Ridder, however, has a chance at redemption in his next fight, as he takes on Brazilian jiu-jitsu prodigy Tye Ruotolo in a middleweight submission grappling match.

The bout takes place at ONE Fight Night 10: Johnson vs Moraes III on Prime Video, which broadcasts live from 1stBank Center in Denver, Colorado on Friday, May 5th. The event streams free to fans in the United States and Canada via an active Amazon Prime subscription.

If and when he gets past Ruotolo, De Ridder says he will be looking at resuming his MMA career, in particular, booking a rematch with Malykhin to try and reclaim his light heavyweight strap.