Reinier de Ridder vows to dominate Kiamrian Abbasov at ONE: Full Circle

Bengaluru, February 15: Two-division ONE World Champion Reinier de Ridder vows to dominate ONE Welterweight World Champion Kiamrian Abbasov at ONE: Full Circle on February 25.

While "The Dutch Knight" de Ridder welcomes the challenge from "Brazen" Abbasov, he believes that challenging for the ONE Middleweight World Title will be a mistake. The two world champions will clash in the main event of ONE: Ful Circle, and De Ridder compliments Abbasov's in-ring ability.

"He's a durable fighter. He's a good fighter all-around. I just think I'm on another level, and I'll showcase that," De Ridder shared.

"I'm not underestimating him. I see his technique is crisp. I see he's got championship heart. But once I get a hold of that neck, I'll finish anybody in the world."

This champion versus champion showdown will be a thrilling affair because of their enormous success at The Home of Martial Arts.

Abbasov is on a four-fight winning streak which includes knockouts of Yushin "Thunder" Okami and James Nakashima, plus a submission victory over Agilan Thani.

Throughout that stretch, the most important triumph was his unanimous decision against Zebaztian "The Bandit" Kadestam to claim the ONE welterweight gold.

On the other hand, the titleholder from Breda hasn't lost in his mixed martial arts career, including five bouts inside the Circle.

Three of his contests at ONE were early finishes, most notable of which was his rear-naked choke submission of Aung La "The Burmese Python" N Sang to capture the promotion's middleweight crown.

The Combat Brothers representative noticed pros and cons from his Kyrgyz opponent's style.

"[Abbasov] flows from striking to wrestling pretty easily, but he gets a little overzealous sometimes and gets taken down by much smaller guys," the 31-year-old Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu specialist offered.

"He's got good hands, fast hands. He's pretty one-dimensional in his boxing, pretty loose on speed, but makes some mistakes in his footwork."

Still, De Ridder believes he will be an imposing mismatch for Abbasov because of his ten-centimeter height advantage.

"I'm better overall. I'm rangier in striking," the combatant with a 14-0 MMA record asserted.

"I'll be able to touch him when I want to. I'm the better grappler, I'll take anybody down in the world, and I'll finish anybody in the world as well."

There's no way that De Ridder will be underestimating the challenger because he's also a ONE World Champion. However, he sees multiple scenarios on how the fight could unfold, depending on how the Novorosfight representative approaches the bout.

"I see this going one of two ways, depending on how he comes out," the former European Mixed Martial Arts Champion revealed.

"I think he'll be a bit hesitant to come in. I'll hit him with some jabs, front kick him, push him against the fence, push him back, and take him down. I see myself passing the guard pretty easily and getting the side choke at the end of the first or beginning of the second round.

"But he might come out guns blazing, and I might be able to take him out on the feet as well. I want to finish him as quickly as possible."

However, regardless of his foe's striking prowess and the unpredictability of his approach, De Ridder does not doubt claiming an early finish.

"He has decent wrestling but gets taken down pretty often. So, I think I'm dominating from start to finish," he said.

Download the ONE Super App for the latest updates on ONE: Full Circle, happening on February 25 at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.

Source: Media Release