Leandro “Wolf” Ataides and Reinier “The Dutch Knight” De Ridder understand what is at stake the moment the opening bell rings this Friday at ONE: Warrior’s Code.
Ataides and De Ridder are set for a highly-anticipated collision course on February 7 at the Istora Senayan in Jakarta, Indonesia.
The prize for the winner will be a date with reigning ONE Middleweight World Champion Aung La “The Burmese Python” N Sang.
“I don’t want to hang around. I’m in the prime of my career. I can beat all of these guys, so I just want to be active,” De Ridder told ONEFC.com.
“I want to fight three or four times a year. I don’t really mind who they put in front of me, so when they came to me with this Brazilian, I just said, ‘Yes, alright.’”
The Combat Brothers representative out of Amsterdam has won all his 11 bouts, with eight coming from submission.
His ground game will be put to the test by “Wolf”, a fellow Brazilian Jiu Jitsu blackbelt and 2005 Copa del Mundo winner who wants nothing more than to pick up where he left off nearly two years ago — in the win column.
“Reinier is a good fighter like me. I don’t see anybody else in the division to fight against [Aung La N Sang],” Ataides said.
“I really want to be the World Champion and work toward this. I hope the next fight will be a title shot, and I am really going to do my best to prove I deserve [it].”
De Ridder, however, exuded confidence that Ataides will suffer the same fate as the last men who stood across from him. He even gave a rather confident prediction on how the match will go.
“I’ll get him in the second round, just like the last guy,” De Ridder said.
“This guy is very explosive, so I’ll put pressure on him in the first – I’ll wear him out. His gas tank will be done, then in the second round I’ll submit him.”
To catch ONE: WARRIOR’S CODE on February 7, tune in to ONE’s official Facebook, Twitter
The lead card starts at 6:30 pm while the main card starts at 9:30pm on ABS-CBN S+A.
Read More From ONE Championship:
Reinier De Ridder Shaping Next Generation With Martial Arts Values
Leandro Ataides Inspired To Be Great By Late Father
Top 10 Knockouts | ONE: FIRE AND FURY Athletes | ONE Full Fights
