Reinier de Ridder Foresees Second-Round Finish Against ‘Predictable’ Vitaly Bigdash at ONE 159; Eyes Arjan Bhullar Next

Reinier “The Dutch Knight” de Ridder might be facing one of his toughest challenges yet at ONE 159: De Ridder vs. Bigdash, but the two-division ONE World Champion seems pretty confident of his chances.

De Ridder returns to the Circle on 22 July, to defend his ONE Middleweight World Title against former divisional king Vitaly Bigdash in the card’s main event at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.

The unbeaten Dutchman respects what his upcoming foe brings to the table. That said, he sees the Russian star’s arsenal as an easy puzzle to solve.

“[Bigdash] takes his time, picks his shots. There are a lot of single shots on the feet, which is smart sometimes. His shots are pretty straight, pretty clean,” he said.

“But he’s predictable, and he gets tired very easily.”

The reigning ONE Middleweight and Light Heavyweight World Champion has amassed a perfect 6-0 mixed martial arts slate at The Home of Martial Arts since making his debut in 2019, and he’s finished four of those duels via submission and knockout.

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The highlight of his tenure so far are his back-to-back victories over former two-division king Aung La “The Burmese Python” N Sang. He snatched both straps from the Myanmarese star within the space of six months to cement himself as one of the promotion’s most dominant stars.

De Ridder submitted Aung La in their first encounter in 2020 and took home a clear-cut decision win when the pair met again at ONE on TNT IV in April last year.

For his part, Bigdash is enjoying his most successful run in the organization to date, racking up a three-fight winning streak against the likes of Yuki Niimura, Fan Rong, and “The Burmese Python.” He is undoubtedly the man to beat in the middleweight division.

However, “The Dutch Knight” has done extensive homework on the former titleholder, and he feels that the Russian brawler will be unable to ruffle his feathers.

“He’s going to be tired by the end of the first. And he is going to be done by the end of the second,” De Ridder said.

Reinier de Ridder eyes a third title against Arjan Bhullar

Another successful defense of his middleweight strap will seal his control over the division airtight and allow the Breda native to go after loftier goals.

De Ridder has been most vocal about his interest in going for a third World Title, and he has the ONE Heavyweight World Championship in mind. A win on 22 July may just put a battle with World Champion Arjan “Singh” Bhullar on the table for him.

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“I hope [to get] Bhullar. Bhullar is an interesting matchup. I can’t say too much about my prediction right now, but I’m very confident in what I do, of course,” “The Dutch Knight” said.