Reinier de Ridder reveals how he was able to train at New Wave with Gordon Ryan’s team

Former ONE light heavyweight world champion and reigning middleweight king, The Dutch Knight, Reinier de Ridder is raring to step inside the Circle for only his second submission grappling match with ONE Championship.

The Breda, Netherlands native will face Brazilian jiu-jitsu prodigy Tye Ruotolo in a middleweight submission grappling match at ONE Fight Night 10 next month, and De Ridder is no doubt taking this showdown very seriously.

In fact, he recently traveled all the way from Amsterdam to the United States to get some training in at the prestigious New Wave, headed by legendary BJJ coach John Danaher and megastar Gordon Ryan.

In a recent interview with YouTube channel, The MMA Superfan, De Ridder talked about his experience learning under Danaher’s wing, and how his training there came about. It took just one simple text message.

De Ridder said:

“It’s very inspiring to see their commitment to technique. They are committed to doing it perfectly, getting every step of the process right. It’s cool that I just sent a message to John [Danaher] via text, he replied and said he’s happy to have me over.”

Of course, rolling with Gordon Ryan himself should give De Ridder enough confidence to go up against one of the biggest stars in grappling in Ruotolo.

Reinier de Ridder will take on Tye Ruotolo at ONE Fight Night 10: Johnson vs Moraes III on Prime Video.

The event broadcasts live from 1stBank Center in Colorado on Friday, May 5th, and will also stream absolutely free to fans in the United States and Canada with an active Amazon Prime subscription.

Training with the world’s best in BJJ is a dream come true for De Ridder. And he feels more than ready to show up at ONE Fight Night 10 with his best. He said:

“I didn’t think I’d get to that stage in my career, to be honest.”

Stay tuned to Sportskeeda for all the updates surrounding ONE Fight Night 10, as we deliver news straight from Colorado.