Reinier de Ridder Returns to Defend Middleweight Gold Against Russian Vitaly Bigdash in a Massive Clash at ONE 159

Reinier de Ridder will be back inside ONE Circle on July 22. After a lot of speculations regarding his next matchup, the ONE dual champion will square off against the Russian Vitaly Bigdash. This bout will take place in the main event of the ONE 159 card.

‘The Dutch Knight’ is coming off a hard-fought battle against multi-time jiujitsu world champion Andre Galvao. The two competed in an epic submission grappling contest at the promotion’s 10-year-anniversary show, ONE X.

Meanwhile, a former ONE world champion in his own right, the 37-year-old, Bigdash, got his last win at ONE: Full Circle. The win was closure, 2-1, to a remarkable trilogy against Aung La N sang. Besides, he eliminated the former dual champion Burmese–American fighter in the race to get to the Dutch fighter.

The 31-year-old champion was planning to take on a historic third ONE gold, as the sitting champion Arjan Bhullar’s performances didn’t impress him. However, he anticipated ONE would present him with the Bigdash fight instead.

The champion showed his disappointment with the bout announcement with an emoji on his Instagram. However, come the fight night, he would be geared up to put on a definitive performance as he has done throughout his career.

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On the other side, as ‘Bigdash’ would feel this as a final opportunity to get back to ONE gold, fans could expect the Russian to push the pace and give his best at ONE 159.

Reinier de Ridder talks about the ONE-Prime Video deal

ONE Championship is only in its eleventh year, and yet the promotion has already built a loyal fanbase all over the world, including the American audiences. And to make life even easier for them, ONE signed an exclusive deal with Amazon Prime Video (the United States and Canada) to stream 12 annual prime-time shows.

‘The Dutch Knight’ reflected upon his thoughts on the deal and said, “This is a big deal with Amazon. I am looking forward to taking this step into America, and I know I can compete with anyone from any organization.”

The Combat Brothers standout already puts valuable time in at Sanford MMA. Additionally, he gets to train with former Strikeforce and current Bellator champion, Gegard Mousasi. He believes this is the reason for his sheer confidence in walking inside the ONE Circle.

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What do you think of the Reinier de Ridder vs. Vitaly Bigdash matchup?