Reinier de Ridder says grappling bout with Tye Ruotolo will be "very dynamic" and explosive

Reinier de Ridder expects his submission grappling matchup with Tye Ruotolo to be a highly entertaining affair.

On May 5, ‘The Dutch Knight’ will return to the circle for a showdown with Tye Ruotolo when ONE Championship makes its long-awaited debut in North America. It will be de Ridder’s first time competing since surrendering the ONE light heavyweight title to ONE Championship Fighter of the Year Anatoly Malykhin at ONE on Prime Video 5 in December.

Ahead of the intriguing submission showdown, Reinier de Ridder spoke with the promotion to share his expectations when stepping into the cage with the 20-year-old BJJ prodigy:

“It’s going to be a very dynamic and a very explosive match. Ten minutes seems like it’s a long time, but for a grappling match, it’s kind of short. The plan is to submit him. So I’m going to be chasing him from the get-go.”

While ‘The Dutch Knight’ is looking to bounce back following his first career loss inside the circle, Tye Ruotolo is riding high after earning his second straight victory in December. Ruotolo submitted former ONE featherweight world champion Marat Gafurov the same night de Ridder suffered his first career setback.

Amazon Prime Video subscribers throughout North America can catch Reinier de Ridder vs. Tye Ruotolo at ONE Fight Night 10 live and for free.

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Reinier de Ridder is excited for the chance to grapple with Tye Ruotolo

May 5 won’t be the first time Reinier de Ridder has competed in a submission grappling match under the ONE Championship banner.

At the promotion’s 10th-anniversary showcase ONE X, ‘The Dutch Knight’ rolled with BJJ legend Andre Galvao. The two competed to a 12-minute draw. A little more than a year later, de Ridder will get another chance to show off his grappling skills against Tye Ruotolo, an opportunity he says is “very cool”:

“I expected something like that. It’s very cool that I got a shot at this. I got to grapple Andre Galvao, and I get to grapple Tye Ruotolo, who’s one of the hottest prospects right now in grappling.”

Reinier de Ridder is no slouch when it comes to submission grappling. ‘The Dutch Knight’ earned a silver medal at the European Championships in 2016 and has finished 11 of his 16 wins by way of submission in mixed martial arts. De Ridder currently reigns as the ONE middleweight world champion but has expressed an interest in transitioning to submission grappling once he closes the book on his MMA career.

Watch de Ridder's highlights in ONE below: