Reinier de Ridder hopes to inspire more people to take up martial arts

Reinier de Ridder may not be able to change the world, but he wants to try to leave his mark on it while he can.

The ONE middleweight and light heavyweight world champion is co-owner of Combat Brothers in Breda, Netherlands, where he also trains as a fighter. Running a gym and honing his skills as one of the best in the world can be a pretty daunting task. However, De Ridder believes it’s a necessary sacrifice to fulfill his worldly mission.

In a recent interview, De Ridder opened up about his goal of passing his passion for martial arts on to the next generation. He said:

“With the gym, we try to bring in as many kids as possible and teach as many kids as possible. That’s important for me, and this is my way to give back. I don’t have a lot of time to do volunteer stuff, but I can try to inspire the kids around me to pick up martial arts. It’s a great tool for me, and I hope to bring it to as many people as I can. That’s the thing that’s most close to my heart.”

As he ascends the history books of MMA with his accomplishments, Reinier de Ridder hopes to draw in even more people from his homeland. With so many distractions available for everyone, ‘The Dutch Knight’ believes that helping people discover martial arts can help them enjoy life more. He said in the interview:

"I’ll try and bring people into the gym, inspire them with positive stuff, show them that the world is not just PlayStation and Instagram. And I’ll keep people normal for a few more years if possible.”

Reinier de Ridder looks to extend his legacy in the Circle

On February 25, Reinier de Ridder will look to keep his pristine MMA record intact. He will face Kiamrian Abbasov in the main event of ONE: Full Circle, which will be broadcast live from the Singapore Indoor Stadium.

It will be De Ridder’s first world title defense following his twin victories over Aung La N Sang to capture his two belts. Getting this win will add another feather to the 31-year-olds’s cap and hopefully help in fulfilling his dreams for his community.

However, it will not be easy.

‘Brazen’ is riding a five-fight winning streak and currently holds the ONE welterweight world championship. He will be highly motivated to become the promotion’s newest two-division world champion and will not be intimidated by De Ridder’s resume.

The two world champions will collide on Friday with only one of them leaving with two world titles in possession.