ONE Championship: Reinier De Ridder aims to rebound from first loss in MMA career

Singapore, December 28: Nearly two weeks after suffering the first defeat of his professional mixed martial arts career, Reinier de Ridder has broken his silence as he plans to rebound from the loss.

"The Dutch Knight" lost his ONE Light Heavyweight World Title inside a round at the hands of interim heavyweight king Anatoly Malykhin at ONE FIGHT NIGHT 5 on December 3.

De Ridder, who still holds the ONE Middleweight World Champion, has kept a low profile since then, but he recently resurfaced via social media. The 32-year-old was in a reflective mood in his most recent post.

"Let me get some thoughts out here. This fight did not happen as I imagined," De Ridder posted. "This is the risk I take every time I step into the cage, and I have my reasons to accept that risk, mostly because I want to do something special with my life.

"I don't need to fight to take care of my family, but I do, and it can be tough on them. I'm grateful for all the support I get from my loved ones and all of you out there. I'm happy to be back home."

Prior to the Malykhin loss, De Ridder had been on a 16-fight unbeaten run, with seven of those wins coming under the ONE Championship banner.

The Dutch superstar had harbored ambitions to add a third belt to his collection, with a move to heavyweight suggested. Those plans might now be on hold, but De Ridder is determined to use the lone blemish on his record to take his game to the next level.

"After all this, I would only be ashamed if I would not use it to become a better man. Maybe this is what I needed to take the next step in my evolution," he said

"We're analyzing the fight and everything else. I'll use this to reach a new level. The only way to move on is by doing what I do best: continuous hard work."

It would seem unlikely that De Ridder could command an immediate rematch with Malykhin, but the former two-weight champion will not be short of options.

The obvious first thing to do would be to move back down to his native middleweight division and defend his World Title a third time. But there has also been talk of a potential submission grappling showdown with 19-year-old BJJ prodigy Tye Ruotolo.

Ruotolo is fresh off a win against former ONE Featherweight World Champion Marat Gafurov, and after the contest, the American had a message for De Ridder.

"Reinier de Ridder said he can sub anyone in the world, and I'd definitely like to test that. I know he's a bit taller, but I think I can definitely sub him," Ruotolo proclaimed.

As usual, De Ridder is up for the challenge. In the bowels of the Mall of Asia Arena in Manila, Philippines, the Breda native responded to the callout while preparing to take on Malykhin.

"Let's go, Tye. Let me get through this Russian guy first, and then I'll choke you out after," De Ridder said.

Source: Media Release