Reinier de Ridder points out ‘interesting’ new Russian contender in the middleweight division

ONE middleweight world champion Reinier de Ridder is ready for a new challenge inside the circle. After stopping off for a brief excursion into the promotion’s submission grappling division at ONE Fight Night 10, ‘The Dutch Knight’ is ready for a return to MMA and hopes to square off with some fresh faces:

“Yeah, I'm just looking for new challenges,” de Ridder told the South China Morning Post. “I just want new guys, and in that regard, the Russian guy is interesting.”

Watch the full interview below:

The ‘Russian guy’ who Reinier de Ridder is referring to is undefeated Turkish standout Shamil Erdogan. Making his promotional debut at ONE Friday Fights 22 last month, Erdogan immediately earned the attention of the middleweight division with an impressive second-round knockout against Chinese striker Fan Rong. The victory moved the Kremost Fight Club product to 9-0 in his mixed martial arts career.

While it’s probably too soon to talk about giving Shamil Erdogan a ONE world title opportunity, his impressive destruction of Fan Rong certainly put the division on notice and will likely earn him a high-profile fight for his sophomore appearance.

While Reinier de Ridder is looking for new blood, he may find himself squaring off with a familiar foe in his next out. The first and only man to defeat him in MMA, Anatoly Malykhin, expressed a desire to run it back with ‘The Dutch Knight’ in an effort to take de Ridder’s middleweight world title. The Dutchman could also find himself in a trilogy bout with one of the promotion’s most popular fighters, Aung La N Sang.

Who de Ridder shares the circle with next is anyone’s guess, but if Shamil Erdogan continues to deliver performances like the one he did against Fan Rong, he is sure to score his own title opportunity in no time.

If you missed Erdogan’s impressive promotional debut, the ONE Friday Fights 22 replay can be watched anytime via ONE Championship’s YouTube channel.