Reinier de Ridder Embarks on New Chapter in MMA
De Ridder is coming off a losing streak as he nears the end of his time with ONE, most recently losing the ONE middleweight title to Anatoly Malkin at ONE 166 in March.
Prior to his most recent loss to Mullikin, De Ridder lost his light heavyweight title to Mullikin in December 2022. It was the first loss of his professional MMA career after a 16-fight winning streak.
The exact terms of de Ridder’s deal with the UAE Warriors are currently unknown, but he is expected to be on the radar of UFC, PFL and Bellator in the future. He is widely regarded as one of the top fighters in the world outside of UFC.
De Ridder made his ONE debut in January 2019, defeating Fang Long by first-round submission, before going on to win bouts against Leandro Ataides and Gilberto Galvao before winning back-to-back titles against Aung La N Sang.
De Ridder’s ONE middleweight title reign included successful title defenses against Kiamurian Abbasov and Vitaly Bigdash. 14 of de Ridder’s 16 career wins have come by stoppage.
De Ridder will face a tough challenge from another former ONE star, Khasaev, who is also making his UAE Warriors debut and returning after nearly a year off.