ONE Championship: Andre Galvao wants rematch with Reinier De Ridder, this time in MMA

Bengaluru, June 20: Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu legend Andre Galvao wants to face ONE Middleweight and Light Heavyweight World Champion Reinier De Ridder once again, but this time in a mixed martial arts (MMA) bout.

Galvao fought "The Dutch Knight" De Ridder to a draw in their submission grappling match at ONE X this past March. The Atos Jiu-Jitsu co-founder had several chances to force "The Dutch Knight" to tap but couldn't seal the deal within the 12-minute contest.

While the result is frustrating for the multiple-time International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation World Champion and Hall of Famer, he claimed that his opponent's mentality led to the stalemate. He accuses De Ridder of playing it safe, making it difficult for him to finish the contest.

"[De Ridder is] tough. He's a guy that wins all his fights via submission, so that shows that he knows what he's doing, he knows grappling," Galvao told ONE Championship.

"But I felt that in that fight, he just tried to survive, to be honest. He used the 12 minutes and the cage experience to defend and not do much."

The outcome was a total contrast to De Ridder's prediction of choking Galvao out. After all, that's how he called it following his ONE Middleweight World Title defense against Kiamrian Abbasov at ONE: FULL CIRCLE this past February.

But though the result was something neither man wanted, Galvao maintains his respect for De Ridder's skill set.

"He did a strategy where he could pretty much draw. His grappling skills are good, and I felt he's strong," the 39-year-old said.

"You know, he's very strong in terms of strength. He looks skinny, but he's strong. He's a strong guy."

Left unsatisfied with the draw, Galvao is willing to rematch De Ridder under MMA rules. It's a tall order for the grappling specialist because De Ridder is undefeated in that discipline and is a two-division ONE World Champion. However, Galvao never backs down from a challenge.

"I think, of course, like in a stand-up game, he probably has a little more experience than me. But I will do my best to put his back on the floor," Galvao said.

"And I know that would be hard because he will try to stand up the whole time, keeping me near the cage and all that."

No one knows when their rematch will happen, if at all. But for now, De Ridder will shift his attention to ONE 159 on 22 July. He will headline the event when he defends the ONE Middleweight World Championship against Vitaly Bigdash.

Source: Media Release