Reinier de Ridder feels he needs ‘a real challenge’ in next world title defense

Reinier de Ridder wants to test himself against only the very best when he returns to compete in ONE Championship's MMA division.

The Combat Brothers representative aims to gain much-needed momentum in the all-encompassing sport after suffering the first defeat of his career to Anatoly Malykhin at ONE on Prime Video 5 in December last year.

‘The Dutch Knight’ entered that contest with plenty of confidence, having a 16-0 record and two world titles to his name. However ‘Sladkiy’ ended his fairytale run, dominating the Dutchman on his way to the light heavyweight world title.

Since then, Reinier de Ridder has been extra motivated to put that lackluster performance to bed. After months of training, it seems that he wants to test himself against a deserving middleweight contender.

The ONE middleweight world champion told South China Morning Post:

“I got to challenge myself. I'm looking for somebody new. And I needed a real challenge this time.”

Watch the full interview below:

To be frank, that is the best mindset the Dutchman can carry as he looks to get back to winning ways on the global stage of ONE.

Reinier de Ridder arrived as a largely unknown athlete at the Singapore-based organization in 2019, and in a little over 24 months, ‘The Dutch Knight’ became a two-division king with back-to-back victories over ‘The Burmese Python’ Aung La N Sang.

If he can bounce back from his first defeat with an impressive performance, fans can expect the ONE Championship superstar to rediscover the form that took him to the pinaccle of MMA.