“He has not met a fighter like me” - Vitaly Bigdash says Reinier de Ridder is not prepared to face him

Vitaly Bigdash may be heading to his first world title bout in five years, but he’s not short of self-confidence.

The former ONE world champion will face ‘The Dutch Knight’ Reinier de Ridder for the ONE middleweight world title at ONE 159 on July 22, with all the action happening inside the Singapore Indoor Stadium.

In an interview with ONE Championship, the Russian fighter said that while he believes that de Ridder is the champion for a reason, he has not faced a challenger quite like him.

“I consider him a tough, strong fighter. He has been undefeated so far, a champion in two weights. His awards speak for themselves. I [don’t] underestimate him in any way. But he has not met a fighter like me.”

Bigdash further broke down the two-division world champion’s weaknesses, and hinted at what he might do when they face each other.

“His weakness is of course his striking. [He has] very weak strikes with his arms and legs, I think this is his big omission. Also, I think, nobody has seen him lying on his back. His power is his top control, but nobody has seen him in the guard position on his back, defending and attacking [from that position],” he said.

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Vitaly Bigdash’s road back to world title contention

Vitaly Bigdash last held the ONE middleweight world title back in 2017, when he defended it successfully against Aung La N Sang in their first fight.

However, he lost the belt in their rematch a few months later, snapping a nine-bout winning streak. He sought to fight for the world title once again, but absorbed his second career loss when Leandro Ataides knocked him out in the third round of their matchup.

While that loss put him further away from a world title shot, he dusted himself off by defeating Japanese knockout artist Yuki Niimura with a first-round submission. In December 2021, he picked up another submission victory against a strong finisher in Fan Rong.

He immediately called out Aung La to settle their unfinished business in the circle. Earlier this year, Bigdash claimed a unanimous decision victory in a trilogy bout with ‘The Burmese Python’ to finally earn his spot opposite Reinier de Ridder for the middleweight world title.