Reinier de Ridder finally addresses KO loss to Anatoly Malykhin

After losing the ONE light heavyweight world title last December, not much was heard from Reinier de Ridder. That was until recently, when he finally addressed what went down in the fight.

'The Dutch Knight' was dominated by Russian powerhouse Anatoly 'Sladkiy' Malykhin in their title showdown for the light heavyweight belt at ONE on Prime Video 5 in Manila. He lost by way of first-round knockout.

Reinier de Ridder simply could not get his game going in the contest, which saw Malykhin overpowering the former with a barrage of power punches from all directions. It all came to a halt when the referee stepped in at the 4:35 mark of the first round and the Dutchman crumpled on the mat.

Speaking to SCMP MMA, the Combat Brothers fighter said his opponent outmuscled and outplayed him all told:

“I got caught, man. I f**ked up. I just f**ked up, that’s what happened. Like, after one of the first punches I got hit with, I just wasn’t myself. I made a few mistakes entering into the pocket and I just came up short. Got hit, got hurt, and that’s what it is.”

Watch the interview below:

He said it was a learning experience for him and something he hopes to use as motivation moving forward.

Prior to the loss, Reinier de Ridder was one of the promotion’s two-division world champions, holding the ONE middleweight world title as well. He is set to make his return to action in a submission grappling battle with American Tye Ruotolo in May.

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Reinier de Ridder’s inverted triangle on Vitaly Bigdash wins ONE’s 2022 MMA Submission of the Year award

Reinier de Ridder ended 2022 on a sour note after losing the ONE light heavyweight world title in December, but still provided one of the standout moments for the promotion last year.

The 32-year-old reigning ONE middleweight world champion successfully defended his belt against challenger Vitaly Bigdash of Russia at ONE 159 in July. His first-round technical submission due to an inverted triangle choke was given the nod as ONE’s 2022 MMA Submission of the Year.

In giving the year-end submission award to Reinier de Ridder’s inverted triangle choke, ONE Championship considered its uniqueness and the dramatic way that he executed it.

The promotion recognized that inverted triangles are difficult to execute, but 'The Dutch Knight' showed off his top-class skill set, displaying both fluidity and power to squeeze the lights out of Bigdash.

Interestingly, de Ridder was initially in trouble in the fight as he was put through some tough spots by Bigdash. But the champ turned the tables on the challenger on his way to winning the fight and retaining the middleweight gold.