Undefeated ONE Championship fighter Reinier de Ridder has revealed he isn’t worried about upcoming opponent Anatoly Malykhin’s grappling skillset.
The current middleweight and light heavyweight title holder is set to take on ‘Sladkiy‘ tomorrow night in One on Prime Video 5‘s main event. The bout is scheduled to take place at a catchweight, 225 lbs, and will most likely see one of the duo’s unbeaten records’ tarnished.
De Ridder is certainly a specialist in offensive ground game, with 11 of ‘The Dutch Knight‘s 16 wins coming via submission. The matchup will see two completely different styles of MMA face off, given Malykhin’s prominent knockout record (all five of his previous five wins).
Speaking to The MMA Superfan, the Dutchman explained his thoughts on Malykhin’s grappling ahead of their forthcoming fight.
De Ridder said: “His grappling is not really there. His jiu-jitsu game has not evolved, at all, as far as I’ve seen his fights.
“I’m not sure if training-wise, if he spends a lot of time on the floor. He doesn’t pass guard. He only gets takedowns and he stays at full guard and tries to pound the guy out – which he’s pretty successful at, though. I’m not being too critical there.”
Malykhin was quick to respond to his counterpart’s evaluation, suggesting that de Ridder has maybe underestimated his takedown defence.
In an interview with ONE Championship, the heavyweight stated: “He thinks he can take me down, but he won’t succeed.”
Fight fans based in the UK will be able to watch the card via ONE’s Facebook page, YouTube channel and also watch.onefc.com. The UK start time for the event will be 2 AM BST on Saturday, December 3rd 2022.
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