Arjan Bhullar not ruling out Reinier de Ridder victory over Tye Ruotolo

Reigning ONE heavyweight world champion Arjan Bhullar knows the fight game isn’t all black and white. Sometimes, the guy that isn’t supposed to win ends up getting the ‘W’.

Of course, at this level, it’s hard to bet against anyone, even if you have a particular disdain towards that person. Bhullar and former two-division ONE world champion Reinier de Ridder have gone back-and-forth through media, but the Canadian-Indian star respects the Dutchman’s skills inside the Circle.

De Ridder is set to take on Brazilian jiu-jitsu phenom Tye Ruotolo in a middleweight submission grappling match at ONE Fight Night 10: Johnson vs Moraes III on Prime Video. On this, Bhullar believes the reigning ONE middleweight king has a good chance at beating Ruotolo, if he can thwart the momentum of his younger adversary.

In a recent interview with ONE Championship, Bhullar talked about De Ridder’s chances against Ruotolo.

‘Singh’ said:

“Absolutely, RDR can win this. He has gone in there with top-level guys in the past, Galvao among others, and he’s been grappling for a long, long time. So, can he win this? Yes. Does he win this? I don’t think so. Tye is a specialist. He’s used to grappling without strikes, and he has the momentum behind him.”

That being said, Bhullar still favors the young Ruotolo to win. He added:

“At the same time, grappling without being able to strike is completely different. So, he’s going into Tye’s world, but it’s exciting. This is what ONE Championship is about, different martial arts being showcased. So, it’s good to see.”

ONE Fight Night 10: Johnson vs Moraes III on Prime Video broadcasts live from 1stBank Center in Denver, Colorado on Friday, May 5 and will stream absolutely free to fans in the United States and Canada via Amazon Prime.