ONE Championship's Latest Signee Poses Big Threat To Reinier De Ridder

Two-division champion Reinier de Ridder has cleaned out the middleweight and light heavyweight brackets in ONE Championship as he continues his quest to being recognized as one of the most premier mixed martial artists in the world.

In his most recent fight, de Ridder put together another masterclass on the mat as he put former middleweight titleholder Vitaly Bigdash to sleep in just under one round with a beautiful inverted triangle choke.

Since turning pro in 2013, de Ridder has never tasted defeat in 16 fights and has rarely been on the verge of a harrowing loss courtesy of his otherworldly grappling abilities.

There is a reason why he has put together 11 submission victories--four under the ONE Championship banner--during his career, and he has not shown any signs of slowing down.

“The Dutch Knight” made it known following his victory over Bigdash that he was gunning for the promotion’s heavyweight title to become the first-ever simultaneous three-division world champion.

However, de Ridder may want to hold off on his aspirations for now as Croatian prospect Roberto Soldic, 27, announced that he was joining the Singapore-based combat sports organization via Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour.

“They (ONE Championship) give me an opportunity to take all the belts. Kickboxing belts, Muay Thai world championships, MMA world championships. This makes me something new. I want to create something for my people, for my own legacy. So I chose ONE for sure,” he told Helwani.

Soldic, as Helwani put it, was one of the most sought-after free agents on the market after his contract with the Poland-based KSW outfit expired.

Before he even turned 26, Soldic has made himself into a decorated champion by winning multiple titles across Europe including the middleweight and welterweight titles in KSW, the welterweight strap under Superior Fighting Championship, and the same title in Final Fight Championship.

With KSW, Soldic has held the welterweight title on two separate occasions and defended it twice in a row now, with his most recent victory being able to capture the middleweight championship.

Of his 20 victories, “Robocop” has won 17 of them by knockout with only two fights ever going the distance–the last in September 2019 against Michal Pietrzak.

Soldic has been beaten thrice in his career, but he has bounced back spectacularly well since his last loss in 2018 and is currently riding a seven-fight win streak.

He could give de Ridder his toughest test to date since he has proven his durability in drawn-out wars.

The Croatian is expecting to make his debut sometime later this year and has already called out an icon of the sport in the hopes of fighting him during his time in ONE Championship.

“I want to fight Eddie Alvarez, for sure, if he (ONE chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong) gives me Eddie Alvarez. We will see," he stated.