Reinier de Ridder says would be ‘a very big honor’ to represent New Wave

Reinier de Ridder and Tye Ruotolo have had an interesting feud building up over the past several months. While the two haven’t been all that antagonistic towards one another, they aren’t afraid of trying to get under each other’s skins.

ONE Championship was quick to pick up on this simmering beef and scheduled the two for a submission grappling super fight at ONE Fight Night 10 on Prime Video.

This will be de Ridder’s second match in submission grappling, while Ruotolo will face the man who already tangled with his teacher, Andre Galvao, back at ONE: X.

Reinier de Ridder, in an interview with South China Morning Post, said he could deepen the rivalry with Ruotolo’s gym Atos and John Danaher’s New Wave stable.

While ‘The Dutch Knight’ has his home gym at Combat Brothers in the Netherlands, he’s also been training with Gordon Ryan at Danaher’s gym in Austin, Texas.

De Ridder said that he’s also fine settling the beef between Ryan and Ruotolo. Ryan once downplayed Ruotolo and called the youngster a few choice words:

“Gordon said he’s basically sh*t. Why not [settle the beef between Gordon and Tye]? I’m going to represent the New Wave team a bit. It would be a very big honor for me.”

De Ridder, the reigning ONE middleweight world champion, is a grappling master and holds four submission wins in his ONE Championship career.

Ruotolo, meanwhile, is 2-0 in the Circle with submission wins over Garry Tonon and Marat Gafurov.

---

Reinier de Ridder sees "exciting match" against Tye Ruotolo

Reinier de Ridder has not been one to back away from challenges, and it seems that he’s already studied Tye Ruotolo’s tendencies ahead of their ONE Fight Night 10 match.

ONE Fight Night 10 is ONE Championship’s first fight card in the United States and is set for May 5 at the 1stBank Center in Colorado. The card will also be available live and for free to all Prime Video subscribers in North America.

De Ridder, in an interview with ONE Championship, said he’s looking forward to which brand of BJJ will prevail in his match with Ruotolo:

“I have the physical advantage. I am heavier and longer. He might have a bit of technical advantage because he’s a pure grappler. I think it’s going to be a very exciting match.”