Reinier de Ridder earned his largest win so far since signing with the UFC in free company after he stopped three-time NCAA champion wrestler Bo Nickal in a surprising efficiency however not everyone appeared to be celebrating his victory.
Simply moments after de Ridder completed the struggle, his former employers at ONE Championship posted a clip that confirmed him being completed by Anatoly Malykhin, who’s the one particular person handy him a defeat throughout his 12-year combating profession. The submit from Twitter, which was later deleted by the promotion, learn “Anatoly Malykhin put his harmful energy on full show in his first struggle towards Reinier de Ridder.”
Whereas he didn’t see the submit earlier than it was eliminated, de Ridder wasn’t all that stunned that it occurred within the first place.
“I didn’t see it and no one informed me but, however that’s a typical ONE factor to do,” de Ridder informed MMA Preventing. “They’re some attention-grabbing individuals there, let’s preserve it at that.”
Regardless of serving as a two-division champion for ONE, de Ridder’s run with the promotion got here to an unceremonious finish after he complained about inactivity after solely combating one time between 2023 and 2024.
After he grew to become a free agent and signed with the UFC, de Ridder addressed his exit from the group by sending a message to all other fighters that “in the event you’re considering of signing with ONE Championship, don’t”
He’s clearly moved on together with his profession with de Ridder now sporting an ideal 3-0 report within the UFC together with his fourth struggle already booked towards former middleweight champion Robert Whittaker in July. It’s secure to say, de Ridder is blissful together with his resolution.
“I’m very pleased with the place I’m in, and an increasing number of, I feel you get what you deserve,” de Ridder stated addressing ONE Championship. “I may need wanted the ending that I acquired there in ONE in spite of everything these nice years I had earlier than that. Perhaps I wanted a few punches to the top and a few losses to set me straight.
“I’m very blissful the place I’m at now. I really feel nice. I’ve an excellent crew at Kill Cliff. Let’s see what the longer term brings. Let’s see what I can do on this division.”
De Ridder truly suffered back-to-back losses to Malykhin throughout their two encounters with the Russian taking each his middleweight and light-weight heavyweight championships in consecutive fights.
These wins helped make Malykhin the primary ever three-division champion in ONE after he beforehand held the heavyweight title, though he ultimately misplaced that belt in a detailed, controversial resolution to Oumar “Reug Reug” Kane.
As a lot as utilizing Malykhin’s win over him within the now deleted tweet didn’t shock de Ridder, he guarantees there’s no dangerous blood together with his former opponent in any way. In reality, de Ridder revealed that Malykhin truly despatched him a message of congratulations after he scored the knockout win over Nickal.
“He despatched me a message as properly,” de Ridder stated about Malykhin. “He’s man. There’s nothing mistaken with the dude.”
