Reinier de Ridder hints at competitive grappling career after he’s done with MMA

Reinier de Ridder has suggested that a submission grappling career could be in his future.

‘The Dutch Knight’ is one of the most talented grapplers in MMA, leading to his highly credentialed career thus far. Since making his ONE Championship debut in 2019, de Ridder has won seven of his eight fights, including four submissions.

In a recent Instagram post, the 32-year-old joked about winning an IBJJF tournament before legitimately teasing a future in Brazilian jiu-jitsu:

“I finally won double gold at the @ibjjf europeans… ah no the myth, the legend @h.g.vdberg did 😂 In the beginning of my career I got silver at the europeans 3 years in a row which sparked my full time move to MMA because I was frustrated with the rules in BJJ. But one day I need a pair of these so when MMA is done and I can focus on BJJ I will see if I can also achieve this amazing result. And I will be in Texas next week sharpening up🔥”

Holding a 16-1 record, de Ridder was previously a two-division world champion before dropping the ONE light heavyweight world title to Anatoly Malykhin. Five months after the defeat, the ONE middleweight world champion will return in a submission grappling superfight against Tye Ruotolo.

De Ridder and Ruotolo’s superfight is slated for ONE on Prime Video 10. The event will go down on May 5 at the 1stBank Center in Colorado. The card will be available live and for free to all Prime Video subscribers in North America.

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Reinier de Ridder looks to display world-class grappling skills against Tye Ruotolo

Reinier de Ridder vs. Tye Ruotolo has been added to ONE on Prime Video 10, which will be ONE’s on-site United States debut.

The highly anticipated superfight features an MMA world champion in de Ridder and a top-level BJJ competitor in Ruotolo. ONE Championship made the shocking announcement on Instagram with the caption:

“Challenge ACCEPTED 🤝 ONE Middleweight World Champion Reinier de Ridder returns to submission grappling to face BJJ phenom Tye Ruotolo on May 5 at ONE Fight Night 10 on Prime Video! 🇺🇸 @deriddermma @ruotolobrothersjiujitsu”

ONE on Prime Video 10 will be headlined by Demetrious Johnson vs. Adriano Moraes 3 for the ONE flyweight world title. Other fights that have been announced include Sage Northcutt vs. Ahmed Mujtaba, Aung La N Sang vs. Fan Rong, and Stamp Fairtex vs. Alyse Anderson.