“Really bummed out that I didn’t get to finish him” - Reinier de Ridder says Aung La missed submission haunted him

Reinier de Ridder strives to finish every man that dares step into the circle with him. The reigning two-division ONE world champion will attempt to get another big finish at ONE on Prime Video 5 when he defends his light heavyweight world title against the current interim heavyweight world champion, Anatoly Malykhin.

Ahead of the champion vs. champion showdown on December 2, ‘The Dutch Knight’ spoke with Morning Kombat about his previous appearances inside the circle, including his back-to-back world title wins over ONE Championship legend Aung La N Sang.

In their first meeting at ONE: Inside the Matrix, de Ridder scored a first-round submission.

Six months later, the two were matched up again on short notice. While Reinier de Ridder walked away with a unanimous decision victory and another world title, ‘The Dutch Knight’ was fairly upset at himself for not getting the finish that night:

“To be honest, I wasn’t really in the right mind state to compete yet. I didn’t have time to get as sharp as I am right now. I wasn’t able to put him away. It’s a thing that really haunted me for the months afterward because I was close a couple of times."

'The Dutch Knight' continued, saying:

"I had him in a side choke in the second round. I was really, really, really bummed out that I didn’t get to finish him. But it’s cool that I showed that even on a few days’ notice, my cardio is there to go five fives.”

Watch the full interview below:

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Reinier de Ridder is not concerned about a potential weight difference between himself and Anatoly Malykhin

Reinier de Ridder does not concern himself with his opponent's going into a fight, ‘The Dutch Knight’ is only concerned with delivering another big finish and adding another name to his list of victims. Less than two weeks away from his ONE on Prime Video 5 showdown with Anatoly Malykhin, de Ridder spoke to the South China Morning Post (SCMP), saying:

“It’s not something I dirty my mind with. I don’t care. Whatever weight he shows up, I’ll finish him regardless. It’s the same thing with his friend [Vitaly] Bigdash. He struggled to make weight, and I think he missed like six times before finally making the weight.”

Since debuting inside the circle in 2019, de Ridder has quickly built a reputation for being a destroyer of champions. Taking the world titles wrapped around Aung La N Sang’s waist in back-to-back fights, ‘The Dutch Knight has since bested former welterweight world champion Kiamrian Abbasov and former middleweight king Vitaly Bigdash.

Will Anatoly Malykhin become just another victim of Reinier de Ridder or will the Russian juggernaut finally put a stop to the Dutchman’s reign of terror in ONE Championship?