Reinier de Ridder shares he was fine physically after devastating finish at the hands of Anatoly Malykhin

Reinier de Ridder said he was fine following his brutal first-round knockout loss against ONE Championship Fighter of the Year Anatoly Malykhin.

‘The Dutch Knight’ put his ONE light heavyweight world championship and his ‘O’ on the line in a main event superfight against the Russian juggernaut at ONE on Prime Video 5 in December. It was a classic battle of striker versus grappler. This time, the striker won as Malykhin delivered a devastating knockout blow in the very first round to steal de Ridder’s ‘O’ and his title.

In a recent interview with the South China Morning Post, Reinier de Ridder discussed the aftermath of his first career loss. ‘The Dutch Knight’ confirmed that he was physically okay following the brutal blow:

“It was pretty quick in the back. That’s what I remember again. There’s bits and pieces of the fight itself that I remember.

"After that I was pretty much ok straight away. I was back to normal pretty quickly. I didn’t really have any complaints as far as headaches and nausea or whatever. As you can hear, I’m still kinda coherent speaking-wise. I think I’m ok but I really want to recover from this so that’s what I’m focused on right now.”

Still holder of the ONE middleweight world championship, Reinier de Ridder will likely return to defend his title in 2023, but will first compete in a submission grappling showcase against Tye Ruotolo at ONE Fight Night 10 on May 5.

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Reinier de Ridder plans to avenge his loss to Anatoly Malykhin

Following his first career loss in mixed martial arts, many questioned whether or not Reinier de Ridder would want to step back into the Circle with the heavy-hitting Russian. Even ONE Championship CEO Chatri Sityodtong suggested that ‘The Dutch Knight’ would likely be hesitant about scrapping with Anatoly Malykhin in an attempt to avenge the brutal loss.

“I think this kind of beating changes a fighter, it really does,” Sityodtong said. “When RDR ever did that fight, I think they're going to be very hesitant about ever wanting to face Anatoly again.”

Speaking to SCMP MMA, de Ridder expressed his desire to move on from the loss and use it as a learning experience. He also revealed that he has every intention of avenging his defeat in the future:

"All in all, what I’ve taken from it is I can be a little b*tch and whine about it for the next couple of years, or I could set things straight and learn from this and grow. And I intend on being the best fighter in the world still, and I intend to avenge this loss."