Reinier de Ridder admits Tye Ruotolo grappling match would have been better with ‘a bit more action’

Former two-division ONE world champion ‘The Dutch Knight’ Reinier de Ridder has dabbled in the submission grappling scene in ONE Championship, taking on Brazilian legend Andre Galvao at ONE X in 2022, and most recently against American phenom Tye Ruotolo at ONE Fight Night 10: Johnson vs. Moraes III last May.

While his match against Galvao was highly competitive, the most recent scrap against Ruotolo a few months ago was admittedly lacking in action. Throughout the duration of the 10 minute round, neither man was able to successfully bring the fight to the canvas, and there were hardly any legitimate submission attempts.

Speaking to South China Morning Post in a recent interview, De Ridder said he felt his match with Ruotolo was lacking.

‘The Dutch Knight’ admitted:

“It is what it is (on the outcome of his fight against Tye). It would have been better if there was a bit more action. We could have gotten into the ground, but it didn't happen that way. So it's a shame.”

De Ridder said the experience has been positive overall, and even praised what ONE Championship is doing with the sport of submission grappling as a whole. However, ‘The Dutch Knight’ is looking forward to a return to mixed martial arts competition, where he expects to defend his ONE middleweight world title before the year ends.

There are a couple of names being floated around for De Ridder’s MMA return, including unheralded and undefeated Turkish star Shamil Erdogan. Another name is undefeated Russian welterweight Murad Ramazanov.

De Ridder said in previous interviews that he was intrigued at the prospect of defending his belt against Ramazanov if the Russian star decided to move up a weight class.