Reinier de Ridder earned his greatest win so far since signing with the UFC in free company after he stopped three-time NCAA champion wrestler Bo Nickal in a shocking efficiency however not all people appeared to be celebrating his victory.
Simply moments after de Ridder completed the combat, his former employers at ONE Championship posted a clip that confirmed him being completed by Anatoly Malykhin, who’s the one individual at hand him a defeat throughout his 12-year preventing profession. The put up from Twitter, which was later deleted by the promotion, learn “Anatoly Malykhin put his damaging energy on full show in his first combat in opposition to Reinier de Ridder.”
Whereas he didn’t see the put up 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 person 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 maintain 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 preventing 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 different fighters that “if you happen to’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 combat already booked in opposition to former middleweight champion Robert Whittaker in July. It’s protected to say, de Ridder is comfortable together with his choice.
“I’m very proud of the place I’m in, and increasingly, I believe you get what you deserve,” de Ridder mentioned addressing ONE Championship. “I might need wanted the ending that I received there in ONE in spite of everything these nice years I had earlier than that. Possibly I wanted a few punches to the top and a few losses to set me straight.
“I’m very comfortable the place I’m at now. I really feel nice. I’ve an excellent workforce 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 finally misplaced that belt in an in depth, controversial choice 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 unhealthy blood together with his former opponent in any way. Actually, 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 nicely,” de Ridder mentioned about Malykhin. “He’s man. There’s nothing improper with the dude.”
