Reinier de Ridder describes loves grappling matches but admits it was a ‘pretty hard’ detour’

As one of the best grapplers in MMA today, ONE middleweight world champion Reinier de Ridder hasn’t been afraid to put his money where his mouth is.

Competing under the ONE Championship banner, ‘The Dutch Knight’ has taken multiple opportunities to test his skills against some of the best Jiu-Jitsu players in the world under ONE’s submission grappling ruleset.

Most recently, Reinier de Ridder took some time away from MMA after suffering his first defeat at the hands of Anatoly Malykhin at ONE on Prime Video 5 last year.

Returning at ONE Fight Night 10 in May with a dream grappling match-up, he faced Tye Ruotolo in front of the sold-out 1stBank Center in Broomfield, Colorado, for ONE’s United States debut event.

Though he wasn’t able to achieve a ton of success, the Dutchman held his own with Ruotolo, who is well-experienced in competing with larger opponents in open weight no gi tournaments.

Whilst he is yet to secure a win in his contests with Ruotolo and Tye’s own coach Andre Galvao, de Ridder is grateful for the opportunity to test his skills in new and exciting ways, all under the ONE Championship banner.

In an interview with the South China Morning Post on YouTube, Reinier de Ridder spoke about his recent experiences competing in submission grappling alongside his MMA career:

“Yeah, definitely. And the grappling stuff, every time it's a nice detour and I really love it. It's so cool to be able to grapple with some of the best in the world. But it's pretty hard to be honest.”

Watch the full interview below: