Watch: ONE Championship double champion Reinier de Ridder's first title win over Aung La N Sang

ONE Championship double champion Reinier de Ridder has barrelled through ONE's top ranks like a bull in a china shop. After his freshman year, which saw three straight wins in the promotion, de Ridder was granted a title shot. His opponent was Myanmar's national hero and ONE superstar, 'The Burmese Python' Aung La N Sang.

'The Dutch Knight' was a heavy underdog at the time, as then-double champ Aung La N Sang only lost once in his 12-fight run in ONE Championship. Their October 2020 bout saw one of the most shocking upsets in MMA history.

Right off the bat, de Ridder went to his grappling assault and scored a takedown straight to back control.

From there, de Ridder ironically constricted 'The Burmese Python' to submission with a vice grip-like rear naked choke. It was one of the most one-sided wins over a dominant champion.

Six months after his historic win, de Ridder once again faced Aung La for the champion's second belt. This time for the light heavyweight strap, 'The Dutch Knight' put on a methodical decimation of the former two-division titleholder across five rounds.

Watch their first fight here:

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Reiner de Ridder returns to defend one of his belts against another ONE Championship world champion

At ONE Championship: Full Circle on February 25, Reinier de Ridder will defend his middleweight belt against ONE Championship welterweight king Kiamrian 'Brazen' Abbasov.

Though we've speculated that 2022 will be the year where de Ridder fulfills his promise to become a triple-division champ, a title defense sounds viable too. He would have to legitimize his current reign in order to make a case for a third title, after all.

In an interview with ONE, the two-division champion offered interesting insight on how he expects the fight to play out:

“I see this going one of two ways, depending on how he comes out. I think he’ll be a bit hesitant to come in. I’ll hit him with some jabs, front kick him, push him against the fence, push him back and take him down.”

It's no secret that de Ridder's major key to success is his grappling. Come fight night, you can bet that the Dutch fighter will do everything to take the fight to the ground.

He often uses his tall and lanky physique to pepper his opponents from the outside before torpedoing forward to score blast takedowns. From there, de Ridder utilizes the same long limbs to secure submissions on the ground.

Tune in on February 25 to see if de Ridder can make do with his prediction and submit Abbasov as he said he would.