ONE Championship: Reinier de Ridder prefers Arjan Bhullar fight to Anatoly Malykhin
- Two-division title-holder De Ridder hopes to challenge Asian martial arts promotion’s heavyweight king Bhullar because ‘he’s got a mouth on him’
- Undefeated ‘Dutch Knight’ also willing to fight interim heavyweight champion Malykhin as ‘he’s a world-beater as well’
If Reinier de Ridder gets his way, he will be challenging Arjan Bhullar for the ONE Championship heavyweight title soon.
“The Dutch Knight”, who holds the Asian martial arts promotion’s middleweight and light heavyweight titles, was back in action at ONE: Full Circle last month in Singapore, when he submitted Kiamrian Abbasov to defend his middleweight belt.
Immediately after the fight, the two-division champion set his sights on the winner of a planned heavyweight title unification fight between Bhullar and interim king Anatoly Malykhin.
De Ridder’s focus is on the heavyweight belt – not the man holding it – but he admits he would rather fight Bhullar than Malykhin.
“I’d like to take [the belt] from Bhullar,” the 31-year-old told the Post. “He’s got a mouth on him, and it’s nice to trash talk with him a bit.”
“I’d like the belt, but the mace is also nice – the mace he carries,” De Ridder added, setting his sights on the traditional gurz the Indian-Canadian carries to the cage before his fights. “It would be nice to beat Bhullar, but the way Malykhin looked last time, he’s a world-beater as well, so both of those guys would be interesting.”
The Bhullar-Malykhin fight has not yet been made official, but it is expected to occur sometime this summer. De Ridder is unsure who will win that match-up, but sees paths to victory for both heavyweights.