Anatoly Malykhin praises Reinier de Ridder: “He can become champion in any league”
Two-division ONE MMA World Champion Anatoly Malykhin believes his old foe and former double ONE titleholder Reinier de Ridder can reach great heights in the all-encompassing sport, but not in the Russian superstar’s vicinity.
De Ridder earned his third consecutive stoppage victory in the UFC this past Saturday, 3rd May, when he stopped promotional upstart Bo Nickal in the second round of their middleweight encounter.
As the only man to beat “The Dutch Knight,” having stripped him of the light-heavyweight gold in December 2022 and the middleweight crown in March 2024, Malykhin is familiar with De Ridder’s talents.
“Sladkiy” credits the 34-year-old and cites him as a genuine threat in any organisation. Nonetheless, he says the world should remember what happened when they collided.
“Reinier de Ridder is a fighter who can become champion in any league. He’s a serious threat in any division,” Malykhin said.
“But when you see De Ridder winning belts, just remember that Anatoly Malykhin already dealt with him. And dominated him.”
Both De Ridder and Malykhin built their stock fighting far from the UFC’s market, reaching the top of the mountain in Asia-based ONE Championship.
As such, many fans in the West are only now being exposed to De Ridder, and Malykhin believes this proves that great MMA fighters exist worldwide and not just on the UFC’s roster.
“I’ve been saying this for a long time – the best fighters aren’t only in the UFC. Sure, they have great talent, but so do other promotions. The UFC was just the first major promotion to hit the market, and it got the most hype – that’s why people assume it has all the best guys,” he said.
“But I’ve trained with many UFC fighters, and honestly, they’re just regular fighters, regular people. You can beat them, and they can beat you. Every league has exceptional athletes. The elite is everywhere.”
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