ONE Championship: Andre Galvao plans to make ‘awesome introduction’ by submitting Reinier de Ridder

BJJ legend Galvao will meet two-division MMA champ in submission grappling match at ONE X on March 26 in Singapore

The 39-year-old Brazilian predicts he will make the Dutchman tap, and then plans on returning to mixed martial arts

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Andre Galvao trains ahead of his ONE debut. Photos: ONE Championship.

Published: 7:25am, 18 Mar 2022

Andre Galvao, one of the most accomplished submission grapplers in history, is just over a week out from his ONE Championship debut – and he plans on making an entrance.

The 39-year-old Brazilian jiu jitsu black belt will take his first steps into the ONE Circle at ONE X on March 26 in Singapore, where he will meet two-division MMA champion Reinier de Ridder in a 12-minute, submission-only grappling match.

“It’s a great pleasure for me to represent ONE Championship,” the five-time IBJJF world champion said on a pre-fight media conference call on Thursday. “It’s going to be amazing.”

Galvao’s bout with De Ridder was announced soon after the latter defended the middleweight title with a submission victory over Kiamrian Abbasov at ONE: Full Circle last month. However, it was in the works for much longer than that.

“We were negotiating for a couple months,” he said. “He did really well [against Abbasov]. He controlled the fight, had no problems, and after that he felt confident and he called me out.

“He was like, ‘Hey Andre Galvao, I’ll choke you out!’ I was like, ‘Woah – so he wants the fight really bad’.”

Kiamrian Abbasov congratulates two-division champion Reinier de Ridder (left) after their fight at ONE: Full Circle.

De Ridder, while significantly less experienced than Galvao on the submission grappling circuit, is also a Brazilian jiu jitsu black belt with a proven predilection for locking up limbs and necks.