“I run through champions” - Reinier de Ridder confident he will beat Anatoly Malykhin in December

‘The Dutch Knight’ Reinier de Ridder has made a career of running through ONE world champions. He’ll have the chance to do it once again when he meets reigning interim heavyweight world titleholder Anatoly Malykhin.

Long rumored to face reigning heavyweight champion Arjan Bhullar in a title unification bout, Malykhin has grown tired of waiting for ‘Singh’ and is now moving on to an opportunity to become a two-division champion, challenging Reinier de Ridder for his light heavyweight world title.

'The Dutch Knight' shared the news of the champion vs. champion matchup on Instagram while sending a message to Malykhin in the process.

“I run through champions. Watch me close out the year big! 👑”

ONE Championship fans shared their excitement for the contest, with one pointing out that ‘The Dutch Knight’ made his promotional debut in Manila and will return there when he meets Anatoly Malykhin on December 2nd.

Watch de Ridder's rise below:

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Anatoly Malykhin recognizes Reinier de Ridder as one of the best fighters in the world

Going into his middleweight title defense against Russian juggernaut Vitaly Bigdash, many felt that Reinier de Ridder’s days as a two-division titleholder were numbered. Boy, were they wrong. ‘The Dutch Knight’ delivered perhaps his most impressive performance, submitting the former world champion with an inverted triangle choke in the very first round.

Sharing his thoughts on the fight with ONE Championship, Malykhin had nothing but positive things to say about de Ridder and his epic performance:

“Everything is clear: Reinier de Ridder is one of the most dangerous jiu-jitsu fighters. He is very strong on the ground. Vitaly knew he had to avoid fighting on the ground, that he had to throw punches to the head and to the body."

He added:

“When Vitaly got his opponent’s neck, he might have thought he had a chance – and by the way, his chokes are very good. But we saw how it all ended. I think Vitaly can now do some homework and analyze his mistakes. He still has a chance [to become the world champion again].”

Watch de Ridder's last fight below: