Reinier de Ridder believes he can "submit one of the best in the world" if he focuses purely on grappling

With enough focus, Reinier de Ridder believes he will be able to submit one of the best grapplers in the world when he returns to the circle.

On May 5, ‘The Dutch Knight’ will take a break from mixed martial arts to compete in a submission grappling super fight with 20-year-old BJJ prodigy Tye Ruotolo. The duo will meet as part of ONE on Fight Night 10 on Prime Video, which will air live from the 1stBank Center in Colorado as the promotion makes its highly anticipated U.S. debut.

A little over a month out from the intriguing submission showdown, Reinier de Ridder spoke with the South China Morning Post and said that with all of his focus on jiu-jitsu, he feels good about his chances of handing Ruotolo his first loss in ONE Championship.

“I can hang with the best in the world while I’m just doing MMA, maybe I can submit one of the best in the world when I’m just focused on grappling.”

With 16 career wins in MMA, ‘The Dutch Knight’ has an incredible 12 victories by way of submission, the most recent of which came against former ONE welterweight world champion Kiamrian Abbasov and former ONE middleweight titleholder Vitaly Bigdash.

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Reinier de Ridder believes his match with Tye Ruotolo will be a close one

Reinier de Ridder is deep in preparations for his submission grappling contest with Tye Ruotolo. Unlike bouts against previous BJJ standouts, ‘The Dutch Knight’ has had plenty of time to hone his skills in the months leading up to his return. Discussing his opponent and the expectations for their matchup, ‘The Dutch Knight’ said:

“He’s very fast. He’s very agile and he’s a great grappler. I think it’s going to be a very close matchup, very explosive. I think it’s very important, the one who can conserve his energy for the 10-minute round will come out on top in the end.”

De Ridder is particularly invested in snagging a big win at ONE Fight Night 10 after suffering the first setback of his career just a few months back. Defending his ONE light heavyweight title against interim heavyweight champion Anatoly Malykhin, de Ridder failed to get the Russian juggernaut to the ground, leaving him open to a barrage of brutal strikes that resulted in a first-round knockout at ONE on Prime Video 5 in December.