It doesn't look like Reinier de Ridder will be facing Gordon Ryan in a grappling match anytime soon. 'The Dutch Knight' is not shy about calling out opponents. He also has no qualms in predicting exactly how he will beat them.
Reinier de Ridder recently took on 'King's rival Andre Galvao at ONE X and the contest ended in a draw. But when it comes to Ryan, the double champ admitted that he might be biting off more than he can chew.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with Sportskeeda MMA, he said:
"As far as Gordon goes, I'll stick to training. His jiu-jitsu is from another planet man. He's very, very good and he's well-suited for these types of matches. He's the king of that. It doesn't work well when there's a time limit when it's MMA because you have to force some stuff sometimes. But I'll stay away from no time limit matches with Gordon for now."
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Catch our full interview with de Ridder below:
The 6'4 star got to see Ryan's prowess on the mats up close during a recent visit to his gym in Texas.
'The Dutch Knight' toured some of the top training facilities in the US in the wake of his match against Galvao and trained with some of the best fighters on the ONE roster, including Garry Tonon, Aung La N Sang and Marcus 'Buchecha' Almeida.
Reinier de Ridder hails John Danaher
When de Ridder posted about his visit to see the 'Danaher Death Squad' in Texas, he described the experience as like dying and going to "jiu-jitsu heaven."
While not one to idolize anyone, the 31-year-old admitted that he looked up to the the DDS leader and clearly enjoyed his time with him.
"It was amazing to study under John. He's such a cerebral guy when it comes to this sport. He taught me a lot. My grappling has gone to the next level and I hope to show that in a few weeks."
Reinier de Ridder has already proven himself to be arguably the best pound-for-pound fighter in ONE Championship. If he has truly leveled up after his visit to the US, then Vitaly Bigdash is in for quite a ride at ONE 159.