Reinier de Ridder does not lack for self-confidence, that’s for sure. ONE Championship’s middleweight and light heavyweight king is undefeated, and in his own eyes “unstoppable”, having stretched his record to 16-0 with a slick first-round submission of Vitaly Bigdash in Singapore last weekend. So sure of his abilities is the Dutchman that he fancies a crack at a third title in ONE at heavyweight, and it is swiftly becoming increasingly impossible for the Asian martial arts promotion to deny him. “They’re into it, but not as into it as I am,” De Ridder told the Post . “They want to do the guys first, [Arjan] Bhullar and [Anatoly] Malykhin. I think they’ve already set it up. We’re waiting to hear it be announced.” Heavyweight king Bhullar and interim champ Malykhin are expected to land opposite each other on an upcoming ONE on Prime Video card in the second half of 2022. But either way, De Ridder isn’t keen on hanging around. “I’d be down for everything,” he said. “The focus is of course MMA, but I understand there is not really somebody now that is a clear next opponent. I want to be active. Give me something in between, give me a little snack. “If you want to keep me waiting then give me a fight with [Alain] Ngalani in Muay Thai so I can show off some striking skills. He’s a character. Big dude, well known. I think it will be a really nice fight.” With seven straight wins in MMA competition since signing for ONE, De Ridder’s wider reputation is certainly growing, with leading MMA analyst Dan Hardy saying he could beat any of the UFC’s top 10 middleweights. It’s a claim De Ridder has been making for years now, and he is glad to see the rest of the MMA world finally giving him his due. “In the UFC, you have [Alex] Pereira coming up now, and he’s basically just a striker, easy match-up,” De Ridder said. “[UFC middleweight champion Israel] Adesanya is a pretty easy match-up, to be honest. Maybe like Derek Brunson would be tougher. Robert Whittaker is definitely a harder match-up than Pereira and Adesanya.” De Ridder is naturally a middleweight, having fought there before his time in ONE – which uses hydration tests to curb dangerous weight cutting practices, meaning he fights at his walk-around weight of 205 pounds. But he also fancies his chances against the UFC’s best light heavyweights. “I’m a little heavier nowadays than I was, but I can make 84 kilos pretty easily if I diet well, if I do the weight cut well. That would be my natural weight,” he said. “But light heavyweight is still an option. I’m still taller than those guys like [Jiri] Prochazka, Jan [Blachowicz], so that would also work. Those guys are basically just strikers as well. Prochazka, he got dominated in the grappling department last time, kinda “I’m unstoppable man. No, I stop at [UFC heavyweight champ, Francis] Ngannou,” he added, laughing. For now, De Ridder has cemented his status as ONE’s pound-for-pound No 1 MMA fighter, and is more than happy to remain with the promotion. “I’m very happy how they treat me,” he said. “It will all come down to where can I prove myself, have the best fights, fight the most people, be the most active. “That’s the thing that counts. I want to cement myself in the history books, leave the best legacy I can. I’m 31 years old, so realistically I have five or six years to do this. “I want to just run through everybody that they put in front of me, set records, and do things nobody has ever done, things nobody has ever dared to dream about. Whoever is my partner in that, we’ll see.” In his own words, De Ridder has already “done a lot of cool s***” in ONE, racking up wins over the welterweight champion, middleweight champion, and light heavyweight champion, with a very creditable draw in a submission grappling bout against the legendary Andre Galvao thrown in for good measure. “I’ve been blessed with the chances I’ve gotten, and I need more chances,” he said. “I just want to be active. I want to do something special. I want to do something with my life nobody else can, achieve stuff nobody else can. That’s why I’m here and that’s why I step into the cage. “I did something special already. I’m the double champ, I’m undefeated. I choke out everybody, and now I wanna be triple champ, and then after that quadruple champ. “So I think if I fight three or four times a year, let me defend every belt once a year and I’ll be more active than Bhullar and Malykhin combined. I can manage it all. This winning stuff it’s a crazy drug. I’ll keep going for now.”