Reinier de Ridder unsure who the “right opponent” at middleweight is

In his last appearance inside the circle, Reinier de Ridder tasted defeat for the first time in his career. At ONE on Prime Video 5 in December, he put his lightweight world championship and undefeated record on the line against undefeated interim heavyweight champ Anatoly Malykhin and suffered a first-round loss.

In his return to competition at ONE Fight Night 10 on May 5, ‘The Dutch Knight’ will compete in a submission grappling contest against one of the top no gi competitors in the world, Tye Ruotolo.

Whilst he is still the reigning ONE middleweight world champion, de Ridder encountered one key issue when looking at who his MMA return would be against. Through his dominant streak that saw him become a double champion, the Dutchman defeated the majority of the top contenders in the middleweight division.

In an interview with The MMA Superfan, he spoke about the current dilemma at middleweight:

“Well, it’s kind of hard, right? Because at middleweight, I kind of fought everyone already. I really want to showcase what I’ve been working on since my last defeat. It’s not just about winning my next fight and retaining my title or whatever. It’s more about showing the steps that I’m making, that I’m not a grappler, I’m a complete fighter. But the right opponent, he is not there yet. So, I’m not too sure. We’ll see what happens in the Fan Rong-Aung fight.”

Watch the full interview below:

Reinier de Ridder will compete against Tye Ruotolo at ONE Fight Night 10 on May 5. On the same night, former world champion Aung La N Sang will take on Fan Rong in a high stakes middleweight matchup.

The entire event will air live and for free via Prime Video for North American viewers.