Reinier de Ridder says moving up in weight isn’t as easy as people think

Reinier de Ridder educated fans on the struggles of changing weight classes.

‘The Dutch Knight’ is a former two-division champion who goes back and forth between the middleweight and light heavyweight divisions. Although he’s made the transition look easy throughout his ONE Championship tenure, the reigning ONE middleweight world champion recently revealed that the process is difficult.

During an interview with SCMP MMA, De Ridder had this to say about moving up in weight:

“It's pretty hard to put on some weight if you do the type of work we do. Like on the mats every day. It's basically cardio all day. So putting on muscle mass is a very tedious process.”

Reinier de Ridder was unstoppable in his first seven fights with ONE, leading to five finishes and two decision wins. In December 2022, ‘The Dutch Knight’ had his momentum halted when Anatoly Malykhin knocked him out to secure the ONE light heavyweight world title.

De Ridder’s loss against Malykhin was a severe setback in his career, both mentally and physically. With that said, the 32-year-old is still the ONE middleweight world champion and one of the best MMA grapplers on the planet. ‘The Dutch Knight’ returned to action on May 5 in a submission grappling match against Tye Ruotolo.

Reinier de Ridder De Ridder looks to make his MMA return later this year. During a video posted by SCMP MMA in June, the former two-division world champion stated he wants to defend his middleweight throne against Shamil Erdogan in the next few months and then schedule the rematch against Malykhin by the end of the year.