Reinier De Ridder’s Masterful Submission Leads Biggest Winners From ONE 159

ONE 159 saw strong performances from across the card, but these three fighters had the best showing last Friday, July 22.

Reiner de Ridder

The ONE middleweight title remains safely around the waist of Reiner de Ridder after taking out former champion Vitaly Bigdash in what could be the submission of the year.

Bigdash had “The Dutch Knight” in trouble when he pulled guard and attempted a guillotine choke 30 seconds into the first round, but he was able to escape it after some solid work on the ground.

A few moments later, it was Bigdash who found himself in trouble after a light scramble on the ground saw de Ridder lock in an inverted triangle choke in the blink of an eye, and the Rostov-on-Don, Russia native was put to sleep.

Since entering the promotion in January 2019, the two-division champion has rarely been in danger of eating his first professional loss as his masterful work on both the feet and on the ground always allows him a sliver of an opening to take home the victory.

As for what is next in line, de Ridder boldly declared he wants to fight for the heavyweight title next.

“I’m done asking, Mitch [Chilson]. You know what’s next. I want them [Anatoly Malykhin and ONE heavyweight champion Arjan Bhullar] both on the same night,” he said in the post-fight interview.

Janet Todd

A new interim atomweight Muay Thai queen was crowned at ONE 159 as Janet Todd defeated ONE Super Series newcomer Lara Fernandez in a solid five-round strikefest.

The younger Fernandez certainly felt like she had a lot to prove to both Todd and ONE fans as she came out extremely aggressive, while the veteran and reigning atomweight kickboxing champ remained calm throughout.

Todd’s demeanor did not change throughout the fight as she calmly turned away Fernandez’s strikes and sought to land counter punches to the Spaniard’s kicks.

The end of the fourth round saw Fernandez light up Todd with stinging shots to the head as it became clear that the fight can go either way.

However, the start of the fifth saw “JT” land a two-punch combination off a whiffed punch by Fernandez that staggered the latter.

Feeling that the fight was going to be in her favor, Todd further ramped up the aggression to end the round and was announced the victor by unanimous decision.

The win also gave Todd the distinction of being the promotion’s third two-sport champion, putting her up alongside the likes of Stamp Fairtex and Sam-A Gaiyanghadao.

Danial Williams

No. 5-ranked strawweight Muay Thai fighter Danial Williams entered the mixed martial arts (MMA) circuit when he took on China’s Zelang Zhaxi in the opening fight of ONE 159.

Both fighters put on a frenetic pace as soon as the opening bell rang as they traded heavy-handed shots to the face early on.

“Mini T” did feel the power in Zelang’s hands as he got a cut on his left eyebrow by the second minute.

However, that did not stop him from uncorking a hellacious right hand to the chin of Zelang, knocking him out with 40 seconds remaining in the first round.

In addition, he was awarded a $50,000 performance bonus for his efforts.

During the post-fight interview, Williams called out his shot and made it clear that he is gunning for strawweight Muay Thai champion Joseph Lasiri.

“What I really want, I made it clear on social media, I do want Joseph Lasiri for the strawweight Muay Thai world title. He needs to defend that right now. I’m the guy to beat,” he told Mitch Chilson.