Watch: Ahead of his bout with Reinier de Ridder at ONE X, Andre Galvao takes on Israel Adesanya
![Israel Adesanya (left) trains grappling with Andre Galvao (right). Galvao takes on Reinier de Ridder in a grappling match at ONE X. [Image courtesy of FloGrappling's YouTube page]](https://staticg.sportskeeda.com/editor/2022/03/5fddd-16482114921883-1920.jpg?w=500)
Jiu-jitsu master and multi-time world champion Andre Galvao will face ONE double champion Reinier de Ridder at ONE X in a submission grappling match. The grappling world knows Galvao's legendary skills, and in a video released by FloGrappling earlier this year, we get to see why.
Andre Galvao is seen training his jiu-jitsu wizardly against UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya. The video shows how there are levels to the grappling game. Black belts are not made equal, and Galvao might be in a league even higher than Reinier de Ridder.
The video, which was shot at the Atos Jiu Jitsu headquarters in San Diego, shows 'The Last Stylebender' training with an elite group of high-level black belts led by master Galvao. The Brazilian, who is a fourth-degree black belt and has won more medals in grappling than you can possibly imagine, chose to give Adesanya a go on the mats.
When we say "there are levels to this game", we're talking about how purple belt MMA fighter Adesanya is worlds away from Galvao's mastery of the craft. Galvao, who will make his ONE Championship debut at ONE X, was all smiles, seeing no threat and just basically having fun with the dominant UFC middleweight champion. The Brazilian grappling legend even let himself get caught in submission holds only to slip out like they were nothing.
After the sparring session, Israel Adesanya can be heard saying, "different level, different level". He is most definitely right. If this was an indication of what MMA double champion Reinier de Ridder is facing at ONE X, he's in for a long night.
Watch the entire grappling session here:
"Reinier is absolutely crazy, stupid, or he knows something I don't know" - Chatri Sityodtong on Reinier de Ridder vs. Andre Galvao at ONE X
In a recent interview with Sportskeeda, ONE CEO Chatri Sityodtong spoke about the upcoming grappling bout between 'The Dutch Knight' and Galvao.
In his trademark straightforward style, Sityodtong called it how he sees it:
"In my own jiu-jitsu journey, I've been able to roll with normal black belts and world championship-level black belts. And I can tell you, all black belts are not equal. There are huge gaps between a normal black belt and an elite world championship black belt. I mean, massive gaps. That's why I think Reinier is absolutely crazy, stupid, or he knows something I don't know."
Watch Chatri Sityodtong's interview with Sportskeeda below:
Reinier de Ridder, while he is a remarkable grappler in MMA, has never won a world championship at the black belt level. Galvao makes world-class black belts look like white belts when they grapple with him. It was a surprise that the double champion called out the grappling legend and chose to test himself in his opponent's domain at ONE X.
Reinier de Ridder challenges @Galvaobjj to a GRAPPLING MATCH! Who wants it? 🥋👀
#ONEFullCircle #WeAreONE #ONEChampionship https://t.co/qE8P2AVdt2
If he does know something we don't, then the Dutchman may effectively shake up the foundations of both the MMA and grappling worlds. All we have to do now is wait and find out. Catch ONE X tomorrow, March 26.