Dutch mixed martial artist
Reinier de Ridder[1] (born September 7, 1990) is a Dutch mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the middleweight and light heavyweight divisions of ONE Championship, where he is the current ONE Middleweight World Champion and a former ONE Light Heavyweight World Champion.[2] De Ridder was the third two-division champion in ONE history, having previously held the middleweight and light heavyweight belts simultaneously.
Background
Reinier de Ridder started with judo at the age of 6 and earned a black belt. He began training in Brazilian jiu-jitsu while attending college. He also owns a physical therapy clinic in Breda, combining his working hours with his training hours.[3][4][5]
Grappling career
De Ridder won a silver medal at the European Jiu-Jitsu Championship in 2016.[3]
De Ridder returned to submission grappling competition at ONE X on March 26, 2022 against André Galvão.[6] The match went the distance and as the promotion did not use judges for their submission grappling matches at the time, it was declared a draw.[7]
De Ridder faced Tye Ruotolo in a submission grappling superfight at ONE Fight Night 10 on May 5, 2023.[8] He lost the match by unanimous decision.[9]
Mixed martial arts career
Early career
De Ridder had his first amateur fight was in 2013, winning by first round submission, before making his professional MMA debut later that year, winning with a first round triangle choke. Reinier went on a seven fight winning streak with all the fights ending with stoppages. After this winning streak, Reinier got the opportunity to fight for his the Middleweight belt in HIT FC, which he won by first round rear-naked choke. After winning his next bout in under two minutes, Reinier got offers from the UFC and ONE FC, deciding to go with the latter due to better terms.[3]
ONE Championship
De Ridder made his ONE debut at ONE: Hero's Ascent on January 25, 2019 against Fan Rong, in a fight which he won by a first round submission. He would then face Gilberto Galvao at ONE: Legendary Quest, knocking out Galvao in the second round with knees, and former title contender Leandro Ataides at ONE: Warrior's Code, in which he won a hard fought decision.
ONE Middleweight Champion
De Ridder faced Aung La Nsang for the ONE Middleweight World Championship at ONE: Inside the Matrix on October 30, 2020.[10][11] He won the bout by submission in the first round, becoming the champion.[12]
Double champion
After Vitaly Bigdash tested positive for COVID-19, de Ridder stepped in for a rematch against Aung La Nsang for the ONE Light Heavyweight World Championship at ONE on TNT 4 on April 28, 2021.[13][14] He won the fight by unanimous decision to become the new ONE Light Heavyweight World Champion,[15] and the third simultaneous two-division champion in ONE history.
In the first middleweight title defense, de Ridder faced Kiamrian Abbasov at ONE: Full Circle on February 25, 2022.[16] After applying an arm-triangle choke at the end of the second round that forced Abbasov to tap after the bell, de Ridder ultimately won with the same submission in the third round.[17] This win earned him the Performance of the Night award.[18]
De Ridder faced former multiple-time ADCC and BJJ world champion André Galvão in a grappling match at ONE: X on March 26, 2022.[19][20] They grappled to a draw after 12 minutes since neither could find the submission.[21]
De Ridder made his the second title defense against former champion Vitaly Bigdash on July 22, 2022 at ONE 159.[22] After surviving an early guillotine from Bigdash, Reiner choked him out with an inverted triangle choke in the first round.[23] This win earned him the Performance of the Night award.[24]
De Ridder was scheduled to defense the middleweight title against Shamil Abdulaev at ONE on Prime Video 3 on October 22, 2022.[25] However, Abdulaev withdrew due to not being medically cleared and the bout was cancelled.[26]
First career loss
De Ridder faced Anatoly Malykhin to defend his light heavyweight title on December 3, 2022, at ONE on Prime Video 5.[27] He suffered his first career loss after getting knocked out in the first round.[28]
A rematch between de Ridder and Malykhin for the ONE Middleweight World Championship is scheduled on March 1, 2024, at ONE 166.[29]
