Reinier de Ridder Thanks Gegard Mousasi for ‘Amazing Help,’ Says No to Aung La N Sang Trilogy

On Feb. 25, One Championship two-division titleholder Reinier de Ridder will defend his middleweight belt. De Ridder (14-0, 5-0 One) captured that title from its previous owner, Aung La N Sang, by decision after a dominant performance at One on TNT 4 last April. Now, “The Dutch Knight” will lock horns with current welterweight kingpin Kiamrian Abbasov, who is moving up a division in an attempt to become a double champion in his turn. De Ridder is known for spending his training camps entirely in his native Netherlands, where he can work with quality training partners including current Bellator MMA 185-pound champion Gegard Mousasi.

“I’ve been training with [Mousasi] for three years now,” de Ridder said. “He’s just amazing help. We put a lot of work together, it’s always a war. Next to that, he’s a very smart guy. He knows a lot about fighting. In a very simple, basic way, he explains to me stuff about striking that I never thought of before. I have a lot to thank him for that.”

In addition to the championship headliner, the upcoming One: ‘Full Circle’ card features a clash between former titleholders Aung La and Vitaly Bigdash. When asked whether he believes that the winner of that fight deserves a title shot, de Ridder mentioned Bigdash as a possible challenger, denying any interest in a trilogy with Aung La.

“If it’s Bigdash, yeah. If it’s Aung La, come on, I’ve been there, I’ve done that. I choked him out quickly the first time, I dominated him for five rounds the second time. What’s left to prove? I wish him a good career, I wish him all the best, but yeah.”

De Ridder also talked about his plans to move up to heavyweight and capture a third belt, spoke about the opening of his new gym, and more.

Timestamps:

(00:00) Intro
(00:50) Leaving the Netherlands after a huge storm
(01:32) Enjoying his time before the fight
(02:20) His camp for Abbasov
(03:31) Staying on the sidelines for 10 months
(04:10) Opening a new gym
(04:40) Spending his camps in Europe
(06:05) Training with Mousasi
(06:40) How he sees the fight going down
(07:07) His plans to move up to heavyweight
(07:50) His thoughts on the current situation of the heavyweight division
(08:45) Commenting on Abbasov moving up a division
(10:05) Picking Aung La vs. Vitaly Bigdash
(11:16) Whether he believes that the winner of that fight deserves a title shot
(11:45) Outro

Tudor Leonte started writing about mixed martial arts in 2013 for Italian media outlets. His journey with Sherdog began in 2018 and he now covers One Championship and countless European shows. You can follow him on Twitter @MrTudorLeonte.