MMA News: Former Double-Champ Exits ONE Championship, Announces Next Fight

One of the promotion's biggest stars is set to start a new chapter.

(ONE Championship)

One of the biggest names on the ONE Championship roster has left the promotion and already has his next fight booked.

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Reinier de Ridder Leaves ONE Championship

Reinier de Ridder joined ONE Championship in 2019 as an unbeaten talent, and after scoring a first-round submission in his debut “The Dutch Knight” continued adding to his perfect record and went on to claim the promotion’s 205 lbs. title from Aung La N Sang the following year.

A rematch with N Sang saw de Ridder also win the ONE Championship 265 lbs. title before he defended his 205 lbs. strap twice, but the 33-year-old ended up losing both his belts to current triple-champ Anatoly Malykhin when the pair met in 2022 and again in March of this year.

De Ridder lost both his ONE Championship belts to Malykhin. / (ONE Championship)

The back-to-back losses to Malykhin were the first losses of de Ridder’s career, and now MMA Fighting reports that the former double-champ has decided to leave ONE Championship and is set to make his UAE Warriors debut later this month.

“The Dutch Knight” will compete outside of ONE Championship for the first time since 2019 when he takes on Magomedmurad Khasaev at UAE Warriors 51, which takes place at Adnec Marina in Abu Dhabi, UAE on July 27.

The 27-year-old Khasaev will also be making his UAE Warriors debut opposite de Ridder, and although “Trucker” never competed under the main banner for ONE Championship he did pick up a head kick knockout at ONE Friday Fights 16 before suffering his first loss at ONE Friday Fight 29 last August.

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