“The only one that got away” – Reinier de Ridder still eyes rematch with Leandro Ataides

Reigning ONE middleweight and light heavyweight world champion Reinier de Ridder handily defeated Leandro Ataides when they met back in 2020 at ONE: Warrior’s Code.

However, the double champ feels there’s still some unfinished business between him and the Brazilian fighter.

While Reinier de Ridder is confident that he’ll beat Ataides once more if they ever cross paths, he wants to do it in a more convincing manner. Ataides, after all, was the one who put a blemish on 'The Dutch Knight's 100 percent career finishing rate.

Prior to their world-title eliminator match, de Ridder had a perfect 11-0 record, with eight wins coming by submission and three by KO/TKO. De Ridder was still able to get his hand raised that evening but was unable to put away the extremely durable Ataides – a first of his career.

In a recent interview with The MMA Superfan, the 32-year-old surprisingly admitted that he wants a rematch with the Nova Uniao product:

“It has to be [Leandro] Ataides, right? The Brazilian guy, the only one that got away. So yeah, he's still on my radar, but he hasn't been fighting. So that's a shame.”

Here's the full interview:

Reinier de Ridder, who’s used to imposing his will on the ground, was unable to do so against Ataides.

‘The Wolf’, a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt himself, refused to get taken down by the Combat Brothers standout.

Still, the Dutchman took control of the fight by showing off his underrated stand-up game and outstruck Ataides.

Meanwhile, de Ridder said he would welcome Ataides as a challenger for his 205-pound world title:

“He, by coincidence, lives really close to our city now. So he's here in Holland. He trains with a gym that I'm friends with the owner. So that will be cool to get an avenging fight, or my avenging fight with him one day, but they should give him some fights. They should get him active.”

Rewatch Reinier de Ridder vs. Leandro Ataides below:

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Reinier de Ridder wants to show off more of his kickboxing inside the circle

Since beating Ataides, de Ridder has kept his undefeated record intact and now has 11 submission victories to his name.

No one has yet figured out a way to out-grapple the judo and BJJ black belt inside the circle.

‘The Dutch Knight’, for one, doesn’t mind dominating his foes right in his wheelhouse. However, he also wishes to display more of his ever-improving striking skills.

The dual world champion said in an interview with Morning Kombat:

"To be honest, I don’t really see anybody stopping [my] takedowns anytime soon. It would be cool to show off some more kickboxing, but I need the right dance partner for it."

Reinier de Ridder might have the perfect tango partner in ONE interim heavyweight world champion Anatoly Malykhin. The duo is set to clash in the main event of ONE on Prime Video 5 this Friday, December 2 (US Primetime) inside Mall of Asia Arena in Manila, Philippines.

The event is free of charge for existing Amazon Prime Video subscribers in North America.

Watch De Ridder's full statement below: