Reinier de Ridder hones his striking with kickboxing world champion Tyrone Spong at Sanford MMA

Being a two-division world champion won’t stop Reinier de Ridder from honing his skills even further with Tyrone Spong at Sanford MMA.

On Instagram, ‘The Dutch Knight’ shared he’s training with the multiple-time kickboxing and boxing world champion at the famed gym. Spong can be seen tripping up a smiling De Ridder, who looked like he knew what was coming.

In the caption, Reinier de Ridder said:

“@tyrone_spong got takedowns? 😬bedankt lul (thanks lol) 😉👊”

The Florida-based gym is known for being home to some of the world’s best fighters, including former ONE world champions Aung La Nsang, Martin Nguyen, and Brandon Vera, among many others.

In the comments, Spong suggested that they’re not done just yet. The translated reply from the Surinamese-Dutch fighter goes:

“😅😅 Tomorrow, I’ll show you some ground work 😩”

De Ridder takes pride in being one of the best MMA grapplers in the world, while Spong is a proven champion in a couple of striking arts. It’s an insane pairing that one fan appreciates:

“Tyrone striking x RDR grappling 🔥🔥🔥🔥”

The foreground briefly catches Aung La training with another fighter. De Ridder won both the ONE middleweight and light heavyweight world titles from ‘The Burmese Python’, and fans are wondering if they linked up again at Sanford MMA. A fan asked:

“Training with Aung La?”

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Could Reinier de Ridder train with Gordon Ryan next?

Reinier de Ridder dipped his toes in submission grappling at ONE X, where he held a legend of the sport, Andre Galvao, to a draw. Despite it being his first competition in the Circle outside of MMA, De Ridder shared on Instagram that he was still a bit upset he couldn’t get the finish.

In the comments, Galvao’s rival Gordon Ryan encouraged ‘The Dutch Knight’ and the two had a friendly banter, where De Ridder suggested that he would come visit them soon.

Ryan is one of the best grapplers in the world, with well over 100 wins to his name. He signed with ONE Championship last year to compete in MMA and submission grappling.

The American has dealt with medical issues that forced him to announce his sudden retirement last year. However, it looks like he's getting better and could make his promotional debut soon.

With De Ridder honing his striking at Sanford MMA in the US now, maybe it’s the right time to make good on his suggestion and go across the country to train with ‘The King’.