It’s safe to say Reinier de Ridder is happier now that he’s found a home in the UFC.
Despite claiming titles in two different weight classes in ONE Championship, “The Dutch Knight” endured a contentious split with his former employers and he doesn’t have much nice to say about them now. While he’s largely avoided the subject since leaving ONE and signing with the UFC, de Ridder finally addressed the Singapore based promotion by sending a harsh warning to any fighters who are considering going there.
“This is something I feel I have to do for other fighters — if you’re thinking of signing with ONE Championship, don’t,” de Ridder said at the UFC Vegas 100 post-fight press conference. “It’s that simple. You should not. There’s nothing there. There’s no fights. You’re just wrong if you do this, if you sign there, this is a bad mistake.”
The former light heavyweight and middleweight champion didn’t get into many details about his disdain towards ONE but at least one major problem came down to activity.
Following three fights in 2022, de Ridder didn’t compete at all during 2023 outside of a grappling match against Tye Ruotolo. He finally returned to action in early 2024 but a loss to Anatoly Malykhin marked the end of his run with ONE Championship before de Ridder competed a single time in UAE Warriors prior to signing with the UFC.
“It’s been a bad couple of years,” de Ridder said. “The stress I’ve been put through. The stress my family’s been put through. To even just get fights, it hasn’t been nice. It’s hard for me to talk bad because I had a couple of good years at ONE as well. In the beginning, they treated me well. Over the past couple of years, it’s been really bad.”
If there was one aspect about ONE Championship that he missed, de Ridder admitted the post-fight celebrations where glitter falls from the ceiling to end a show was a nice touch but that sounds like the only thing he’s not getting compared to his new home in the UFC.
“[I miss it] a bit yeah,” de Ridder said about the colorful post-fight celebrations. “It would have been nice, it looks cool. But everything else [in ONE Championship] is shit.”
While the ill feelings towards ONE clearly still exist, de Ridder has moved on with his career, especially after he tapped out all-time submissions leader Gerald Meerschart in the third round at UFC Vegas 100.
Taking on another grappler and a fighter he’s trained with in the past gave de Ridder some new obstacles to overcome but the end result is what matters most.
“On the floor, I made a few mistakes, especially in the second round,” de Ridder explained. “I shouldn’t have went for those [D’arce chokes], I thought I had them but they weren’t there. There’s a few little tweaks I should make there.
“But I’m happy it happened this way, the fight happened this way. Because normally he’s the guy who lasts longer, he takes some shots and he’s still there and he finishes guys at the end of the second or in the third round. So it’s cool I was that guy this time.”
With the win, de Ridder immediately becomes a name to watch in the middleweight division but he’s obviously not trying to take things slow and easy now that he’s in the UFC.
When asked about potential opponents, de Ridder didn’t blink when calling for a showdown against arguably the 185-pound boogeyman.
“Why not Khamzat [Chimaev]?” de Ridder said. “That would be a nice matchup, grappling wise, it would be cool.”’
Whether it’s Khamzat Chimaev or somebody else, de Ridder is just happy to keep his calendar full thanks to the UFC.
“Whatever the UFC wants of me, I’ll do it,” de Ridder said. “Just give me a call. I’m ready.”
Northern Ireland boss Michael O’Neill believes that Charles “deserves” the chance to lead the team out at a raucous Windsor Park as a reward for his consistent form.
“For me it was an easy decision, Shea is a player since we have put in the team that has taken huge responsibility, putting an armband around him doesn’t change that,” he added.
O’Neill is confident that Charles has the qualities both on and off the pitch to thrive in the role.
“Shea has got the attributes to play at the highest level of the game and the temperament to do so and that is what you look for as a captain.
“Whether he has the armband or not he is going to be a leader on the pitch and since I have come in he has been available for every game, played every game so as a manager what more can you ask for.”
The manager also feels that Charles playing regular first team football in the Championship – on loan at Sheffield Wednesday from Southampton – has only helped his game.
“The biggest benefit to Shea playing in the Championship has been his improvement in his ability without the ball. We all know his abilities with the ball, but he has really improved without the ball,” O’Neill continued.
“Shea doesn’t need coached he needs games, the more games he plays will just elevate him.”
Interim ONE strawweight champion Jarred Brooks is set to move up to flyweight for his next fight scheduled against Reece McLaren at the upcoming ONE Fight Night 26 card, which is scheduled on Dec. 6 from Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.
ONE Championship officials confirmed the pairing to MMA Fighting on Thursday.
It’s an interesting move for Brooks after he held the ONE strawweight title but lost the belt following an illegal slam delivered to Joshua Pacio back in March. Rather than get an immediate rematch, Brooks ended claiming an interim strawweight title by taking out Gustavo Balart by rear naked choke in his next outing in August.
Now Brooks moves up to flyweight where ONE currently doesn’t have a champion following Demetrious Johnson announcing his retirement from the sport in September. He will still hold onto the ONE interim strawweight title.
Since moving to ONE Championship, Brooks has gone 5-1 overall with his only loss coming from that disqualification.
As for McLaren, the 33-year-old veteran is a mainstay in ONE dating back to 2015 when he made his debut for the promotion. A perennial contender throughout his career, McLaren has gone 3-1 in his past four fights with hopes that he can take out Brooks and potentially put his name in the hat to compete for the vacant flyweight title.
ONE Fight Night 26 goes down on Dec. 6 from Thailand with more fights expected to be announced in the coming weeks.
Share this article
IRVING, Texas – Ceremonial weigh-ins for the Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson card take place Thursday, and you can watch a live stream of the proceedings here on MMA Junkie at 7 p.m. ET (4 p.m. PT).
The ceremonial weigh-ins take place at Toyota Music Factory in Irving, Texas. AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, the home of the Dallas Cowboys, hosts Friday’s fight card (Netflix).
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for Paul vs. Tyson.
Be sure to visit the MMA Junkie Instagram page and YouTube channel to discuss this and more content with fans of mixed martial arts.
On the day he debuted in the UFC, Bo Nickal was already one of the most accomplished wrestlers to set foot in the octagon as a three-time NCAA Division I National Champion and he’d like to see more of those athletes join him in the sport.
Ahead of his return at UFC 309, Nickal revealed his hopes that more high-level wrestlers start making the transition to fighting like 2020 Olympic gold medalist Gable Steveson, who became a primary training partner for Jon Jones as he prepared for his fight against Stipe Miocic on Saturday.
“I would love that,” Nickal said during UFC 309 media day. “I would love to see as many high-level wrestlers as possible transition over to MMA. I think that the last decade or so, we really haven’t had the best collegiate wrestlers move into MMA. You have guys that have had success but we haven’t had the best of the best.
“So guys like Gable Steveson, it would amazing to see him transition over. I think that American collegiate style wrestling would take over the sport in short order.”
In addition to his comments about wrestlers making the move to MMA, Nickal also addressed his long layoff between fights and why he was OK with taking time off between his appearance at UFC 300 and returning at UFC 309 where he faces Paul Craig. Nickal also discussed Khamzat Chimaev’s recent win over Robert Whittaker and how far he has to go before he could potentially face the Chechen mauler.
NEW YORK – Michael Chandler won’t set sights on a potential rematch with Dustin Poirier.
Chandler’s most recent outing came in a submission loss to Poirier in at UFC 281 in November 2022. Poirier was unhappy with Chandler’s antics during the fight and accused him of being a dirty competitor.
Poirier (30-9 MMA, 22-8 UFC) has hinted at one last fight before retirement, but Chandler (23-8 MMA, 2-3 UFC) doesn’t see “The Diamond” risking a potential loss.
“Yeah, I mean, not really,” Chandler told reporters on fighting Poirier during Wednesday’s UFC 309 media day. “I mean, Dustin’s got a win over me. He’s never going to take the chance in one of his last couple of fights to put that on the line and lose to me and have that stain on him the rest of his life. So, I know that for sure.
Chandler runs things back with Charles Oliveira (34-10 MMA, 22-10 UFC) in a co-main event Saturday UFC 309 (pay-per-view, ESPNews/Hulu/FX, ESPN+) at Madison Square Garden in New York.
He has bigger plans than trying to avenge his loss against Poirier.
“I’m not really worried about it,” Chandler continued. “I will be ranked ahead of him Saturday night at midnight when I beat Charles Oliveira. We’ve got other options: Max for the BMF belt, Islam for the title obviously. You’ve still got the Conor fight, still got ‘TUF 31,’ finishing that which needs to be finished.
“We had a contract signed. There’s a lot of options for me, and I don’t think he’s necessarily one of them at all. Maybe someday we’ll squash the beef, probably not. I think we will at some point. Right now, we’re just two dudes in the same division looking towards the same thing.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 309.
Be sure to visit the MMA Junkie Instagram page and YouTube channel to discuss this and more content with fans of mixed martial arts.
How to unsnarl a tangle of threads, according to physics
Would-be reality TV contestants ‘not looking real’
Is sharing your smartphone PIN part of a healthy relationship?
X-rays reveal half-billion-year-old insect ancestor
Hyperelastic gel is one of the stretchiest materials known to science
‘Running of the bulls’ festival crowds move like charged particles
Physicists have worked out how to melt any material
‘Dirt decision’: Conor McGregor, pros react to Jose Aldo’s razor-thin loss at UFC 307
‘Blacks for Trump’ and Pennsylvania progressives play for undecided voters
Woman who died of cancer ‘was misdiagnosed on phone call with GP’
Wetherspoons issues update on closures – see the full list of five still at risk and 26 gone for good
Aaron Ramsdale: Southampton goalkeeper left Arsenal for more game time
2024 ICC Women’s T20 World Cup: Pakistan beat Sri Lanka
Rangers & Celtic ready for first SWPL derby showdown
how UniCredit built its Commerzbank stake
A new kind of experiment at the Large Hadron Collider could unravel quantum reality
Maxwell’s demon charges quantum batteries inside of a quantum computer
Quantum forces used to automatically assemble tiny device
Sunlight-trapping device can generate temperatures over 1000°C
Liquid crystals could improve quantum communication devices
Samsung Passkeys will work with Samsung’s smart home devices
Top shale boss says US ‘unusually vulnerable’ to Middle East oil shock
Ukraine is using AI to manage the removal of Russian landmines
Laser helps turn an electron into a coil of mass and charge
Russia is building ground-based kamikaze robots out of old hoverboards
Navigating the News Void: Opportunities for Revitalization
Pereira vs. Rountree prediction: Champ chases legend status
Massive blasts in Beirut after renewed Israeli air strikes
Quantum ‘supersolid’ matter stirred using magnets
Why this is a golden age for life to thrive across the universe
Gmail gets redesigned summary cards with more data & features
Cornell is about to deport a student over Palestine activism
SingleStore’s BryteFlow acquisition targets data integration
Microphone made of atom-thick graphene could be used in smartphones
Bruce Springsteen endorses Harris, calls Trump “most dangerous candidate for president in my lifetime”
Water companies ‘failing to address customers’ concerns’
Pennington vs. Peña pick: Can ex-champ recapture title?
Boxing: World champion Nick Ball set for Liverpool homecoming against Ronny Rios
Shanghai Masters: Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz win openers
Tiny clue on edge of £1 coin that makes it worth 2500 times its face value – do you have one lurking in your change?
Meta has a major opportunity to win the AI hardware race
Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney renews blast at ‘gatekeeper’ platform owners
ITER: Is the world’s biggest fusion experiment dead after new delay to 2035?
Dana White’s Contender Series 74 recap, analysis, winner grades
America’s Cup: Great Britain qualify for first time since 1964
Kayla Harrison gets involved in nasty war of words with Julianna Pena and Ketlen Vieira
WXV1: Canada 21-8 Ireland – Hosts make it two wins from two
New Zealand v England in WXV: Black Ferns not ‘invincible’ before game
Nuclear fusion experiment overcomes two key operating hurdles
▶️ Hamas in the West Bank: Rising Support and Deadly Attacks You Might Not Know About
Microsoft just dropped Drasi, and it could change how we handle big data
Harry vs Sun publisher: ‘Two obdurate but well-resourced armies’
LG C4 OLED smart TVs hit record-low prices ahead of Prime Day
It feels nothing like ‘fine dining’, but Copenhagen’s Kadeau is a true gift
‘Uncrowned queen’ Kayla Harrison tastes blood, wants UFC title run
Why Machines Learn: A clever primer makes sense of what makes AI possible
University examiners fail to spot ChatGPT answers in real-world test
Nerve fibres in the brain could generate quantum entanglement
World of Hyatt welcomes iconic lifestyle brand in latest partnership
'Rangers outclassed and outplayed as Hearts stop rot'
URC: Munster 23-0 Ospreys – hosts enjoy second win of season
‘The night of the living dead’: denial-fuelled Tory conference ends without direction | Conservative conference
Stephen Thompson expects Joaquin Buckley to wrestle him at UFC 307
Nintendo’s latest hardware is not the Switch 2
Rwanda restricts funeral sizes following outbreak
Italy seeks to raise more windfall taxes from companies
Check, Remote, and Gusto discuss the future of work at Disrupt 2024
সারাদেশে দিনব্যাপী বৃষ্টির পূর্বাভাস; সমুদ্রবন্দরে ৩ নম্বর সংকেত | Weather Today | Jamuna TV
The search for Japan’s ‘lost’ art
Premiership Women’s Rugby: Exeter Chiefs boss unhappy with WXV clash
The four errors that can stop you getting £300 winter fuel payment as 880,000 miss out – how to avoid them
When to tip and when not to tip
Hull KR 10-8 Warrington Wolves – Robins reach first Super League Grand Final
How India became a Test cricket powerhouse
A tale of two mysteries: ghostly neutrinos and the proton decay puzzle
Crisis in Congo and Capsizing Boats Mediterranean
How to watch Salt Lake City title fights, lineup, odds, more
Bukayo Saka left looking ‘so helpless’ in bizarre moment Conor McGregor tries UFC moves on Arsenal star
Snooker star Shaun Murphy now hits out at Kyren Wilson after war of words with Mark Allen
Fans say ‘Moyes is joking, right?’ after his bizarre interview about under-fire Man Utd manager Erik ten Hag goes viral
UK forces involved in response to Iran attacks on Israel
TV Patrol Express September 26, 2024
Fifa to investigate alleged rule breaches by Israel Football Association
A slight curve helps rocks make the biggest splash
▶️ Media Bias: How They Spin Attack on Hezbollah and Ignore the Reality
How to wrap your mind around the real multiverse
Sunderland boss Regis Le Bris provides Jordan Henderson transfer update 13 years after £20m departure to Liverpool
Phil Jones: ‘I had to strip everything back – now management is my focus’
Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 won’t get monthly security updates
Why does Prince William support Aston Villa?
▶ Hamas Spent $1B on Tunnels Instead of Investing in a Future for Gaza’s People
এই ডিভাইস দিয়ে দেখা যায় পৃথিবীর সব টিভি চ্যানেল! | Smart Tv Box | Independent TV
DWP reveals exact date that cold weather payments will start this winter – can you get free cash for your energy bills?
Musk faces SEC questions over X takeover
China Open: Carlos Alcaraz recovers to beat Jannik Sinner in dramatic final
Google introduces new way to search by filming video
Coco Gauff stages superb comeback to reach China Open final
Bank of England warns of ‘future stress’ from hedge fund bets against US Treasuries
J.B. Hunt and UP.Labs launch venture lab to build logistics startups
Sturm Graz: How Austrians ended Red Bull’s title dominance
You must be logged in to post a comment Login