After a star-making stint at the top of ONE Championship’s food chain, Reinier De Ridder is happy to be free of the promotion.
The 34-year-old Dutch star won gold at both middleweight and light-heavyweight under their banner and was considered one of their greatest fighters ever. But he left on bad terms this year after two straight stoppage defeats to Anatoly Malykhin.
After picking up a win in UAE Warriors, he has joined up with the UFC, winning his debut on Saturday night at the 100th UFC Apex event. And now he is warning others in MMA to avoid heading to ONE Championship, regardless of what is being offered to them.
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Reinier De Ridder struggled to win over Gerald Meerschaert in UFC debut
In the co-main event of UFC Vegas 100, Reinier De Ridder made his long awaited debut under the sport’s biggest banner. He had long been touted as one of the top fighters in Europe, and showed his prowess at times in a battle with octagon veteran Gerald Meerschaert.
While the 55-fight star’s record may not be the most impressive, he is considered one of the clearest tests of a fighter’s ability on the big stage. And De Ridder went straight in at the deep end facing him in his debut.
He ran out of the traps early, winning the first on every scorecard before visibly tiring as the bout went on. It was his return to 185lb and perhaps weight cutting was an issue as he allowed Meerschaert back into the fight, and had it scored even on all three cards heading into the final round.
Luckily, with just under two minutes gone in the final round, he locked in an arm-triangle choke and got the submission. To get the win in that fashion against a black belt was solid, but it remains to be seen if he will be up for the bigger challenges in a white hot division.
Reinier De Ridder wants quick turnaround for UFC 309
In his post-fight speech, the Dutch star told former world champion Michael Bisping that he would be willing to stop by New York City on the way home and add to the UFC 309 card. The turnaround would be one of the fastest in modern UFC history, and seems unlikely at this late stage.
He didn’t name an opponent, but did express interest in being asked before he drank too much in celebration of his win. “You talk to the brass maybe,” he told Bisping, who headlined at the famed Madison Square Garden during his own run as 185lb champion against Georges St-Pierre.
“Because New York is on the way home, so if you guys need me at, what’s in New York? Madison Square Garden? If you need me there next week give me a call in the next couple of hours because after that I might be a little drunk!”
Reinier De Ridder warned fighters not to sign up with ONE Championship
After three fights in 2022, De Ridder grew frustrated waiting for his ONE Championship rematch with Malykhin. He was forced to take over a year off between fights, and warned his fellow athletes to avoid the promotion at all costs.
“It’s been a bad couple of years,” he explained during his post-fight press conference. “The stress I’ve been put through, the stress my family has been put through to even just get fights, it hasn’t been nice.
“This is something that’s hard for me to talk bad because I had a couple of good years at ONE as well. In the beginning they treated me well, but over the last couple of years it’s been really bad.
“This is something I feel I have to do for other fighters, if you think of signing with ONE Championship, don’t. It’s that simple, you should not, there’s nothing there, there’s no fights, you’re just wrong if you do this. If you sign there it’s a bad mistake.”
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