Reinier de Ridder is the man stepping up to save the ONE on TNT IV main event this week.
de Ridder (13-0) will be filling in for Vitaly Bigdash, who fell out of his rubber match with light heavyweight champ Aung La N Sang due to a positive COVID-19 test.
Enter Reinier de Ridder, arguably a more interesting match-up, due to the Dutch fighter defeating N Sang for the middleweight title last fall. Neither man has fought since, so this becomes an immediate rematch — for Aung La’s other title.
Speaking to media outlets including Cageside Press at a ONE on TNT IV media day this week, de Ridder recalled getting the call to step in. “I was on Holiday with the fam, I was at the beach, and then I got the call on Thursday morning. I was about to say yes right away, but I said ‘let me get two seconds to talk to my wife.'” Getting her approval, de Ridder called back immediately, and the fight was booked.
If he does get the win, the 30-year old known as “The Dutch Knight” plans to stay busy and defend both titles. “I’ve always said I want to be active. Let me fight every three months.”
Moving up in weight, he told Cageside Press, actually benefits him since he was on holiday when the fight came together. “I’m at 97, 98 kilos right now,” de Ridder revealed. “After the week of holidays, 93 would have been a challenge anyway, it benefits me pretty well.”
Combat sports loves a good rivalry, and back-to-back fights against the same opponent for different titles seems like the perfect storyline. de Ridder, however, isn’t buying into that, mainly because he doesn’t see his bouts with Aung La N Sang as being worthy of a rivalry.
“No, I’m just going to take him out right away again. To get a rivalry, he should beat me, and he’s not going to beat me any time,” exclaimed the middleweight champ.
Instead, what he sees happening is a similar outcome against a more wary adversary. “I think it’s going to be a little bit more of a hassle to get him down this time. Last time, he really ran towards me and tried to put the pressure on early, which really benefited me in taking him down,” explained de Ridder. “I think this time, he’s going to be a little bit more hesitant. He’s going to be a little bit more careful. So I think I’m going to have to put in a lot more work to get him down. But I still see him ending up on the ground and getting choked out again. It would be nice to get it done faster, but I can’t promise anything this time.”
As for the time off between fights, Reinier de Ridder doesn’t see his opponent as having had enough time to catch up to him. “There’s not enough time for him to catch up to me in a lifetime.”
Watch the full ONE on TNT IV media day interview with Reinier de Ridder above. The event takes place this Wednesday, April 28, airing live on TNT starting at 10PM ET, following online prelims.
