ONE Fight Night 10: Reinier De Ridder Predicts Submission Of Tye Ruotolo

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ONE Middleweight World Champion Reinier de Ridder ended 2022 by losing his light heavyweight strap. But now "The Dutch Knight" wants to start his campaign in 2023 in shocking fashion.

The Dutchman returns to the Circle at ONE Fight Night 10: Johnson vs. Moraes III when ONE Championship makes its United States debut at Colorado's sold-out 1stBank Center. There, De Ridder faces grappling phenom Tye Ruotolo in a middleweight submission grappling showdown on Saturday, 6 May.

This won't be De Ridder's first submission grappling match in ONE. The 32-year-old fought to a draw against Brazil's Andre Galvao at ONE X in March 2022. Now that he's returning to his sport, the BJJ black belt has been scouting his competition closely.

After reviewing his decorated opposition, De Ridder acknowledges the skill set that the American possesses. However, he feels that when it counts in his own weight division, Ruotolo will fall short.

"Man, he did very well. He defeated [Felipe] Pena, of course, in a match that did not have too much happening, but it was very cool that he did," De Ridder said.

"He did well against Meregali, who I've been training with for the last couple of weeks. But in his own weight, he fell short against [Josh] Hinger. He did well in the absolute but did not do too well in his own class."

Returning from his first-ever defeat in mixed martial arts action by the hands of two-division ONE World Champion Anatoly Malykhin, De Ridder has taken the time to go back to the drawing board and decide his next moves carefully. And in doing so, his confidence has certainly not been knocked.

An accomplished submission artist in his own right, with four submission victories showcased in ONE, De Ridder expects to follow suit on 6 May. In fact, he plans to secure the biggest submission win of his career.

"It's going to be a very dynamic and a very explosive match," the Dutchman said. "Ten minutes seems like it's a long time, but for a grappling match it's kind of short. The plan is to submit him. So, I'm going to be chasing him from the get-go. I'm going to make him work."

Source: Media Release