Reinier de Ridder in his last outing against Andre Galvao at ONE X on March 26 in Singapore Indoor Stadium.
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aving earned two world titles both in the middle and light heavyweight divisions of ONE Championship, Renier de Ridder has a tough criteria for what kind of a fighter he would consider great.
And when the man known as “The Dutch Knight” shared the mat with Marcus “Buchecha” Almeida when he went to the United States, he knew that he has someone that had the potential to reach the top, as well as a great training partner.
The double champ went to train in the famous American Top Team gym in Florida last April to hone his skills where he shared the mat with the 17-time BJJ world champion. While he expected to sharpen his skills on the ground, he never thought that Almeida would focus on him the entire time he was in the gym.
“It was a big honor. I came there, I arrived a little late, but they finally let me in. I stepped on the mat and ‘Buchecha’ was training with someone else. But he said ‘let’s train together.’ So we got in an hour and a half of straight training,” De Ridder recalled.
“[We did] a lot of rounds. It was a very good session, a grueling session. It was cool to train with a guy who I’ve looked up to for a while and measure myself in his skillset.”
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De Ridder came to the famed training grounds expecting to see the BJJ icon’s incredible grappling skills firsthand, and when “Buchecha” went to work, he didn’t disappoint.
His impressive ground game wasn’t the only thing that impressed “The Dutch Knight.” Almeida showed his all-around vastly sharpened MMA game that made De Ridder think that his training partner is ready to take on the top-level fighters in his division.
“[His skill set] definitely is [as good as they say]. His takedowns are very, very good. His striking is coming along as well. And as his ground game is next level. So yeah, I think he might be getting up there [against the top guys] soon,” De Ridder said.
With the high praise coming from a two-division world champ, Almeida’s path to greatness is all but guaranteed if he remains steadfast in his training. The up-and-coming heavyweight is sure to garner interest the next time he features in the ONE Championship card. As it is, the fans can’t wait to see the grappling ace back in action by the way he dominates his opponents.
De Ridder, who is undefeated in mixed martial arts with a 15-0 pro record, will defend his middleweight throne against Russian juggernaut Vitaly Bigdash in the main event of ONE 159 on July 22.
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This article is published in collaboration with ONE Championship.
