"My knee still hurts" - Reinier de Ridder reflects on grounded strike highlight

ONE Championship shared a highlight reel on Instagram of Reinier de Ridder tapping out Gilberto Galvao with a grounded knee strike. The two-division champion took to Twitter and said:

“My knee still hurts.”

‘The Dutch Knight' had a 10-fight streak in the light heavyweight division when he competed against the seasoned veteran Gilberto Galvao at ONE: Legendary Quest in 2019.

‘Giba’ Galvao (30-7-0) was coming off a win by default against Jake Butler before de Ridder stapled an eighth loss to his record. Giba did well defending de Ridder’s takedowns, but was eventually overwhelmed by his pressure and power.

Ultimately, Giba fell to the 6’4’’ Dutchman in the second round via grounded knee kicks.

Watch the full replay below:

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Reinier de Ridder vs. Vitaly Bigdash at ONE 159

Headlining ONE 159, the undisputed two-division champion Reinier de Ridder will put his title on the line against Vitaly Bigdash on July 22.

Against the Russian behemoth, de Ridder faces a new challenge as Bigdash returns to the cage after a 3-fight win streak.

Earlier this year, the former Russian champion secured a contender spot after going the distance with 'The Burmese Python' Aung La N Sang at ONE on TNT 4. Prior to that, he battled with 'King Kong Warrior' Fan Rong at ONE: Winter Warriors 2 and submitted him with a clean guillotine choke.

On the flip-side, Reinier de Ridder has also stayed relatively active this year, defending his middleweight title against Kiamrian Abbasov at ONE: Full Circle.

As a multi-divisional champion, de Ridder remains resolute on becoming a three-division champion. He previously called out Arjan Buller for the heavyweight title in order to remain a dominant force in the promotion. However, those plans remain on the shelves for now.

In the meantime, the logical step for de Ridder right now is to touch gloves with Vitaly. Both have disputes to resolve inside the circle. The Russian fighter called out de Ridder after his trilogy bout with Aung La and said he wanted to "break his nose".

During an interview at ONE: Full Circle, Reinier de Ridder responded to those threats by saying:

“They all say the same stuff. They all say they’ll knock me out, they all say they’ll dominate me. What do I do? [...] I just show up."

De Ridder knows it will take a lot more than big talk to threaten him.