The ONE advantage: Why Reinier de Ridder is steamrolling through UFC competition

Former two-weight ONE MMA World Champion Reinier de Ridder rose to the top of ONE Championship, becoming a formidable force. He’s been terrorizing the world of MMA long before his UFC tenure began, and that only highlights the depth of ONE’s MMA realm.

“The Dutch Knight” carved out his third consecutive stoppage win in the UFC this past Saturday, 3 May, dispatching surging UFC star Bo Nickal in round two.

Given ONE’s dominance in Asia and its commitment to broadcasting the very best Muay Thai practitioners, many fans have been quick to overlook the caliber of MMA stars in ONE Championship.

But de Ridder ruled across the middleweight and light-heavyweight MMA divisions. He toppled stars such as Vitaly Bigdash, former welterweight king Kiamrian Abbasov, and former two-weight champ Aung La N Sang to simultaneously hold dual gold.

Given that, it speaks volumes of the skill set possessed by the man who stripped him of those belts handily — Anatoly Malykhin.

“Sladkiy” dispatched the Dutch standout in December 2022 to take the light-heavyweight throne with a first-round knockout. He then followed that up with a third-round TKO victory at ONE 166 in March 2024 to snatch De Ridder’s middleweight gold.

So, as de Ridder looks to close in on a UFC title shot, fans should not be so quick to count out the repertoire on hand in ONE Championship.

ONE Championship stars that have dominated the UFC’s best

When ONE Championship’s MMA athletes have the chance to take on new arrivals from rival promotions, they certainly like to make the most of the opportunity.

One of the earliest cases came in 2019 when former UFC Lightweight World Champion Eddie Alvarez joined the ranks. He famously went 1-2 in ONE after suffering a first-round knockout loss to Timofey Nastyukhin and former lightweight MMA king Ok Rae Yoon.

That was also the case when MMA GOAT and eventual ONE Flyweight MMA World Champion Demetrious Johnson entered ONE.

“Mighty Mouse” did eventually reach the summit, but his first-ever knockout loss versus former flyweight MMA king Adriano Moraes sent shockwaves through the sport’s landscape.

Not only that, but Johnson was also pushed to his limits by reigning flyweight MMA champ Yuya Wakamatsu, Tatsumitsu Wada, and #2-ranked flyweight contender Danny Kingad.