Reinier de Ridder Departs ONE Championship, Set to Fight in UAE Warriors
There is some speculation that ONE Championship is moving away from holding many MMA fights. With the UFC dominating the market, and the mostly-Asian one fanbase being in love with Muay Thai and kickboxing, ONE is struggling to find an audience. Reinier de Ridder, a former ONE middleweight and light heavyweight champion, announced he is parting ways with the promotion and will be joining UAE Warriors instead.
MMAfighting news shows that there is a chance that de Ridder may be looking to move on to a bigger organization eventually. When de Ridder debuts in UAE Warriors, he will fight Magomedmurad Khasaev in a light heavyweight fight on July 27 in Abu Dhabi. During de Ridder’s last two fights in ONE, he lost to Anatoly Malykhin in fights for the middleweight and light heavyweight titles.
Malykhin became the first three-division champion in a major MMA promotion. However, Malykhin’s dominance may also be a reflection of the lack of depth in ONE’s MMA stable. How strong a fighter de Ridder is will show itself as he starts to move away from ONE.
What are UAE Warriors?
UAE Warriors is a promotion that is based out of Abu Dhabi and was founded back in 2012. Since UAE Warriors was founded, they have held 53 events, including their last one, UAE Warriors 48 on March 3, 2024. One notable fighter to come from the UAE is Manon Fiorot.
Fiorot, who couldn’t compete in MMA in her home country of France because it was illegal, was the first-ever women’s flyweight champion in the promotion. She vacated not too long after winning the belt to sign a contract with the UFC.
Fiorot is one of the top flyweight title contenders in the UFC and will likely get the next title shot after Valentina Shevchenko and Alexa Grasso settle their rivalry. De Ridder’s first opponent in UAE Warriors should be a good challenge.
Kasaev is another fighter who is defecting to UAE Warriors from ONE. Kasaev is 6-1 his career and coming off his first defeat, a submission loss to Agilan Thani.
De Ridder Was a Staple of ONE MMA
De Ridder, a native of Breda, Netherlands, started fighting in professional MMA in 2013. He immediately showed a knack for the sport, especially when it came to grappling. De Ridder submitted his first three opponents.
De Ridder’s knack for being a strong grappler came from how he built his base. De Ridder won a silver medal at the European Jiu-Jitsu championship. As a kid, De Ridder started training in judo at age six and would become a black belt. De Ridder isn’t just interested in MMA.
He also owns his business, a physical therapy clinic, in his hometown.
The success he had didn’t stop on the regional scene. De Ridder won his first nine fights before he landed with ONE. During de Ridder’s ONE debut, he scored a knockout at light heavyweight to improve to 10-0 during his career.
Dominant Days for de Ridder
Following de Ridder’s explosive debut, it wasn’t long before he was contesting for a championship. De Ridder would fight Aung La Nsang for the One Middleweight championship during his third fight with the organization. De Ridder locked up a first-round submission to take the belt.
In de Ridder’s next fight, he would meet La Nsang again, this time for the light heavyweight championship. Even at the heavier weight, de Ridder was able to defeat la Nsang again, this time for the light heavyweight belt.
De Ridder would never defend the light heavyweight belt. During his title defense, he dropped the championship to Malykhin. De Ridder was much more successful at middleweight.
In 2022, de Ridder won two fights by submission over Vitaly Bigdash and Kiamrian Abbasov to improve to 16-0 in his career. De Ridder then lost his next two fights to Malykhin.
ONE Wasn’t Investing in MMA
ONE hasn’t put many resources into promoting their MMA brand much. Other than making one of the most bizarre moves in MMA history when they traded for Demetrious Johnson, ONE has made many moves to add top talent. While Malykhin winning the championship in three weight divisions is a neat note for the history books, it likely isn’t great for the brand.
It doesn’t seem right that a fighter can be the champion from 205 to 265 pounds. But for right now, the best MMA news site shows that Malykhin has those weight classes under control. ONE is smart to focus on Muay Thai and kickboxing because that is what their fanbase loves, but the MMA side of the business is suffering immensely.
Johnson may still be the promotion’s biggest star in the sport on the men’s side. Stamp Fairtex has carved out a nice brand for herself on the women’s side. Fairtex’s walkouts have drawn plenty of positional attention.
However, it is hard to tell how much worldwide reach Stamp has. She will fight in the United States in September. If she can have a big performance in front of a U.S. crowd, she may be able to help break into the market.
De Ridder is in Position to Succeed
Should de Ridder find success in UAE Warriors, he may be a fighter who has a chance to climb the rankings quickly. Tapology, which makes an effort to rank all of the current fighters in its database, has de Ridder as the No. 65 light heavyweight in the world. While that number may not seem optimistic on its face, the latest MMA updates will show that one or two more victories may change people’s minds.
De Ridder is 33-years-old and has the physical tools to be successful. He needs to find an organization that will provide him with the fights he needs to make improvements. If de Ridder can string together another winning streak, that ranking should climb quickly.
Find all the latest boxing news and MMA breaking updates on boxingnews.com.
By Dean McHugh.
