“I've done a lot of cool sh*t already in ONE” - Reinier de Ridder on making history with ONE Championship

Double-champ Reinier de Ridder said he’s done a lot of “cool sh**t” with ONE Championship and seems to be interested in doing more.

‘The Dutch Knight’ picked up a technical submission victory via an inverted triangle choke over Russian juggernaut Vitaly Bigdash at ONE 159 this past July. Fans anticipated at a multiple-round firefight between the two killers, but unfortunately for Bigdash, his plans for the middleweight belt were cut short when he was put to sleep at only a few minutes into the first round.

de Ridder remains unbeaten at both light heavyweight and middleweight with 7 straight wins at ONE Championship. While making big plans for the future, ‘The Dutch Knight’ has taken the time to reflect upon the golden opportunities he’s had in his career with ONE thus far.

He spoke with SCMP MMA and said:

“I've done a lot of cool s*** already in ONE. So, I'm very grateful that I've gotten those opportunities. I've been able to beat the welterweight champ, I've been able to beat the middleweight champ. I've beaten the light heavyweight champ. I've beaten former champions. It's just that I've been blessed with the chances I've gotten. And I want — I need — more chances.”

Only 31 years of age, Reinier de Ridder wants to accomplish more for the future of the sport.

What’s next for de Ridder depends on how things pan out in the heavyweight division. Obviously, he’s going for the biggest fight possible, and that would entail a confrontation with either Arjan Bhullar or Anatoly Malykhin for that heavyweight belt.

Catch the full interview below:

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Reinier de Ridder’s No.1 goal at ONE Championship is to “do something nobody else can”

On a scale of difficulty, the inverted triangle choke is one of the most uncommon submissions in MMA; however, Reinier de Ridder made it look easy.

At ONE 159, de Ridder shocked fans and critics alike with a solid finish over Vitaly Bigdash. Bigdash prematurely took the fight to ground with a takedown and put de Ridder into a guillotine.

From that angle, it looked like Bigdash had the choke locked in. But ‘The Dutch Knight’ had other plans. In the post fight interview, de Ridder spoke to the shocked fans and said:

“That’s the goal. The goal is to do something nobody else can. I did that by becoming champ, I did that by becoming double champ, and now I want to keep going beating everybody in the world, because that’s [how] special I want to be. I want to do something special.”