Dutch middleweight champion Reinier de Ridder cemented his status as the king of the ONE Championship middleweight division with an impressive submission finish of former champion Vitaly Bigdash at ONE 159.
Bigdash was looking to recapture the title he last held back in 2017, but he had no answer to “The Dutch Knight’s” supreme grappling skills as he succumbed to a first-round submission defeat.
With Bigdash in de Ridder’s guard and looking to posture up, the champion threw up his legs and trapped the Russian athlete in a tight inverted triangle choke that Bigdash tried in vain to escape from.
Eventually, the squeeze from de Ridder’s legs proved too much and Bigdash lapsed into unconsiousness as the referee stopped the fight at the 3:29 mark of the opening round.
De Ridder’s victory extended his undefeated record to 16-0, as he claimed the 12th submission finish of his MMA career.
ONE 159: Official Results
MAIN CARD
- Reinier de Ridder def. Vitaly Bigdash via submission (inverted triangle choke) – Round 1, 3:29 – for middleweight title
- Janet Todd def Lara Fernandez via unanimous decision – for ONE strawweight kickboxing title
- Muangthai PK Saenchai def. Vladimir Kuzmin via split decision – Muay Thai bout
- Peimian Zhang def. Aslanbek Zikreev via unanimous decision – kickboxing bout
- Jamal Yusupov def. Jo Nattawut via unanimous decision – Muay Thai bout
- Danial Williams def. Zhaxi Zelang via knockout (punch) – Round 1, 4:20
PRELIMINARY CARD
- Sinsamut Klinmee def. Liam Nolan via knockout (punch) – Round 2, 0:05 – Muay Thai
- Marat Gafurov def. Ariel Sexton via TKO (ground and pound) – Round 3, 4:15
- Valmir da Silva def. Tae Ho Jim via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 2, 4:55
