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There is probably no mixed martial artist on the planet right now who has the same submission knowledge as Reinier de Ridder.
The ONE middleweight world champion is arguably the most lethal submission artist in the sport right now. He’s displayed his constricting ground game time and again during his run in ONE Championship.
He’s achieved mythic status in the promotion through his sublime Brazilian jiu-jitsu, and he’ll prove that once again, but this time in submission grappling.
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De Ridder will take on BJJ phenom Tye Ruotolo in a submission grappling match at ONE Fight Night 10 on May 5 at 1stBank Center. The card is ONE Championship’s first on-site event in the United States and will be broadcast live and for free via Prime Video in North America.
Before Reinier de Ridder heads to Colorado, let’s look back at his three best submission wins in ONE Championship.
#3. Kiamrian Abbasov (ONE: Full Circle)
Reinier de Ridder was at the top of the world when he held both the ONE middleweight and light heavyweight world titles in his possession.
After taking the 205-pound world title from Aung La N Sang, de Ridder was challenged by then-ONE welterweight world champion Kiamrian Abbasov for the middleweight belt at ONE: Full Circle.
De Ridder, though, made Abbasov realize that he was too far out of his element. Though he was fighting a fellow world champion, the Dutch superstar looked miles ahead of his competition.
‘The Dutch Knight’ was so utterly dominant that he submitted Abbasov twice during the match. The first one, of course, didn’t count since the Kyrgyzstani star tapped to the arm triangle choke after the bell sounded at the end of the second round.
By the time the third round started, de Ridder wasted no time in securing that fight-ending sequence. The Judo and BJJ black belt took Abbasov down with a swift single-leg takedown before ending the match with an arm triangle choke.
#2. Aung La N Sang I (ONE: Inside the Matrix)
Aung La N Sang was seen as this ruthless force during his reign with the ONE middleweight and light heavyweight world titles from 2018 to 2020, and that was until Reinier de Ridder rode into the field.
Befitting of his imperious nickname, ‘The Dutch Knight’ marched through Aung La’s territory and challenged the Burmese legend for all the gold starting with the ONE middleweight world championship.
De Ridder challenged Aung La for middleweight gold at ONE: Inside the Matrix in October 2020, and put on one of the defining matches of his career.
Quickly taking Aung La’s back barely a minute into the opening round, de Ridder held that position for almost three minutes before locking in a rear-naked choke that ‘The Burmese Python’ had no choice but to tap out to.
De Ridder ultimately completed his golden conquest six months later when he took the ONE light heavyweight world title from Aung La at ONE on TNT IV to become ONE Championship’s third MMA double world champion.
#1. Vitaly Bigdash (ONE 159)
No one was stopping Reinier de Ridder during his exalted run as both the ONE middleweight and light heavyweight world champion.
Even former middleweight king Vitaly Bigdash tried to usurp the throne at ONE 159, but his efforts ultimately became a footnote to the Dutch ruler’s regime.
Bigdash even tried using de Ridder’s game to his advantage when he slapped in a tight guillotine choke in the first minute of the match. While it looked like he had de Ridder in trouble, the Russian slugger couldn’t hold on to the submission, which allowed the Dutch superstar to wriggle out and on to dominant position.
De Ridder took top position right after he got out of the guillotine, before working his way into possibly the most subliminal submission finish in ONE Championship history.
Bigdash thought he got back to a dominant position more than three minutes into the match, but all he got was his neck getting trapped in a rare reverse triangle choke.
Within seconds, Bigdash faded into unconsciousness while de Ridder successfully retained the ONE middleweight world title.
