Reinier de Ridder says Anatoly Malykhin and Arjan Bhullar match up perfectly: “They're the same”

Reinier de Ridder, the reigning ONE middleweight world champion, is eager to see how the heavyweight unification bout between Arjan Bhullar and Anatoly Malykhin unfolds this week.

According to 'The Dutch Knight,' the two fighters are quite similar in many aspects, making the outcome of their clash at ONE Friday Fights 22 in Bangkok a toss-up.

Speaking to the South China Morning Post, Reinier de Ridder gave his take, among other things, on the long-awaited unification fight, saying:

“They're basically the same size. Like height-wise, they're the same, maybe Bhullar has a bit more mass but they're not that different. Yeah, exactly. A little bit more massive than me.”

Watch the interview below:

At ONE Friday Fights 22, Arjan Bhullar will be looking to retain the ONE heavyweight world title he won in May 2021 over former champion Brandon Vera.

Arjan Bhullar has not competed since but is confident that he can get the job done, having kept himself busy in the gym working on his game and conditioning while away from competition.

On the other hand, Anatoly Malykhin, the interim heavyweight world champion, has been on a winning streak in ONE Championship, securing victories in all four of his fights since joining the promotion in March 2021.

His most recent triumph was against Reinier de Ridder in December, where he claimed the ONE light heavyweight world title with a first-round knockout.

With a victory in the upcoming fight, Anatoly Malykhin has a great opportunity to join the ranks of ONE double champions.

\ONE Friday Fights 22 will be played at the Lumpinee Boxing Stadium and will be aired for free on ONE Championship’s YouTube channel.