Reinier de Ridder identifies ‘interesting’ Murad Ramazanov as a worthy challenger to middleweight throne

Former two-division ONE world champion and reigning ONE middleweight king ‘The Dutch Knight’ Reinier de Ridder is one of the best 205-pound fighters in the world. He’s defeated all-comers in ONE Championship, and no one has even gotten close to giving him a good challenge in this weight class.

However, when it was suggested that undefeated welterweight Murad Ramazanov could be a potential opponent for him, De Ridder was instantly intrigued.

Ramazanov is one of the most talented fighters to come out of Russia, and is a top welterweight in ONE Championship. Many in the inside circles say Ramazanov is also one of the most avoided fighters in MMA because of his strong wrestling pedigree.

De Ridder seems interested in testing how their styles match up, based on recent comments. In an interview with South China Morning Post, De Ridder said he welcomes Ramazanov to middleweight and thinks it could be a good next title defense for ‘The Dutch Knight’.

The Breda, Netherlands native said:

“I don't know who started [the talk about me going up against Murad Ramazanov]. But I think it's better if he just comes up to middleweight. He's an interesting guy. Which does get me excited.” [0:50 onwards]

Ramazanov was last seen in December, welcoming highly regarded two-division former KSW champion Roberto ‘Robocop’ Soldic to ONE Championship. Unfortunately, that fight resulted in a No Contest after an inadvertent illegal groin shot ended matters early.

De Ridder is currently riding a two-fight losing streak, after dropping a knockout loss to Anatoly Malykhin to lose his light heavyweight strap. He then fell to Tye Ruotolo in a unanimous decision loss in a submission grappling match.

‘The Dutch Knight’ says he is looking to make a return to MMA for his next fight, and it appears he already has a potential opponent in mind.