Reinier de Ridder admits he’s still cautious about getting hit too hard in sparring following Anatoly Malykhin KO

Former two-division world champion Reinier de Ridder admitted to being more cautious around sparring after getting seriously hurt by Anatoly Malykhin last December.

In a recent interview this week with SCMP MMA, the Dutch athlete looked to be in high spirits as he spoke about his world title fight against ‘Sladkiy’ Anatoly Malykhin at ONE on Prime Video 5.

Suffering a scary knockout in the first round that required immediate medical attention soonafterwards wasn’t something De Ridder ever planned for. After all, defeating world class talents was his bread and butter. Nonetheless, ‘The Dutch Knight’ remained gracious in defeat.

He recently updated fans about his recovery with the following statement:

“I’m just starting to kickbox a little bit again, but I’m really careful about getting hit. It’s the first time I’ve ever been hit basically in a fight in a bad way. So I want to do everything to recover from this.”

Watch the full interview below:

Despite losing the light heavyweight belt to Malykhin, Reinier de Ridder is still ONE middleweight world champion. But since Malykhin has figured out a way to defeat him, it has given newfound confidence to De Ridder’s middleweight adversaries to do the same.

However, De Ridder isn’t putting too much thought into who’s next. Taking a break from MMA, he plans to stay active with a middleweight submission grappling with a super-match against Tye Rutotolo this May. Both athletes are expected to lock horns in Broomfield, Colorado, at ONE Fight Night 10 on Prime Video.

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Tye Ruotolo believes “pure technique” will be key in defeating Reinier de Ridder

ONE submission grappler Tye Ruotolo believes he holds the key to beating Reinier de Ridder in a submission grappling showdown.

The American ace is fresh off his second submission stoppage under the promotion against pro MMA fighter and sambo specialist Marat Gafurov last December.

In under 5 minutes, he submitted Gafurov with a technical wrist lock to score himself his second victory and first-ever $50,000 performance bonus.

Feeling completely fearless and confident, Tye Ruotolo believes he has what it takes to beat one of the most feared jiu-jitsu practitioners in combat sports today.

After calling out Reinier de Ridder in the post-event interviews, here's what Tye had to say about facing ‘The Dutch Knight’ in Colorado:

“I love fighting big guys and beating bigger people. That’s the true essence of jiu jitsu – with pure technique, you should be able to beat anyone, no matter their size. Anyone in the world, the bigger the better.”