ONE Championship Announces 2022 Submission Of The Year Award Winners

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Singapore, January 10: ONE Championship's action-packed 2022 calendar is in the books, and it delivered a swathe of thrilling submissions across the mixed martial arts and submission grappling divisions.

The Singapore-based promotion has recently announced its end-of-year award winners, including for the best submission wins over the past 12 months.

We break down the two athletes who took the honors this year below.

MMA Submission Of The Year: Reinier de Ridder

ONE Middleweight World Champion Reinier de Ridder holds an incredible 11 submissions in his 16 professional wins. But at ONE 159, "The Dutch Knight" produced his best one yet.

Defending the middleweight strap against dangerous Russian Vitaly Bigdash, De Ridder locked up a rare inverted triangle choke that will live long in the ONE highlight reels.

The 32-year-old BJJ black belt survived some early adversity from Bigdash, who attacked and sank in a tight guillotine choke.

After working his way out, the tides turned in De Ridder's favor. The middleweight king attacked with a kimura, but Bigdash was able to regain top position. That advantage was short-lived, however.

The Dutchman quickly wrapped up the inverted triangle from the bottom, and he only needed a few seconds to squeeze his foe unconscious from there.

With the incredible submission win, De Ridder not only retained his title but staked his claim to become the winner of the ONE's 2022 MMA Submission Of The Year award.

Grappling Submission Of The Year: Tye Ruotolo

Teenage Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu prodigy Tye Ruotolo came to ONE in 2022 with a reputation for his relentless submission attacks. And he made his presence known right from the start of his tenure.

The 19-year-old phenom met elite grappler Gary Tonon in his debut at ONE 157 in May, and he needed just 97 seconds to dispose of his vastly more experienced opponent.

Ruotolo came out firing from the opening bell, getting after his 30-year-old foe from the jump. Tonon was unphased by this, though, and he casually warded off the Californian's advances.

But just over 60 seconds into the 10-minute feature, Ruotolo broke through and launched Tonon to the mat before passing into north-south position.

From there, it was all elementary, as the Andre Galvao black belt quickly searched for his signature D'Arce choke. He secured and forced the tap from Tonon.

The win was a huge statement - Tonon is an IBJJF No-Gi Pan American Champion, ADCC medalist, and former ONE Featherweight World Title challenger - and it has deservedly netted Ruotolo ONE's 2022 Grappling Submission Of The Year award.

Source: Media Release