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Reigning ONE middleweight and former light heavyweight world champion Reinier de Ridder is bound for a submission grappling superfight with Tye Ruotolo at ONE Fight Night 10.
On May 5, the heralded 'Dutch Knight' will lock horns with the ADCC Absolutes openweight medalist in a straight grappling match.
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The term "Openweight" has been thrown around a lot leading to this battle, as Reiner de Ridder will potentially outweigh Ruotolo by over 30 pounds come fight night. As opposed to how size is romanticized in a martial arts context, when it comes to high-level professional bouts, it can definitely matter.
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In an intense hype video put together by ONE Championship, we get to understand what this size difference can mean come ONE Fight Night 10. Though size can truly matter at the highest level of combat, Ruotolo has proven that he can defeat significantly bigger men.
In the 2022 ADCC openweight bracket, the grappling prodigy defeated the division's former gold medalist, Felipe Pena. The most impressive aspect of the win was the fact that Pena outweighed Ruotolo by nearly 50 pounds.
Reinier de Ridder, on the other hand, will also have a possible disadvantage coming into the fight. Despite being one of the most successful ground specialists in MMA, he is not a grappling specialist through and through.
Ruotolo has only been grappling for nearly his entire life - and this can definitely nullify the size disparity.
Watch the pre-fight hype video here:
Ahead of ONE Fight Night 10, Reinier de Ridder trains with the last man who defeated Tye Ruotolo
In preparation for his submission grappling bout with Tye Ruotolo, Reinier de Ridder is employing the help of high-level blackbelts in the sport. Particularly with the help of the last man to defeat the 20-year-old phenom, Nicholas Meregali.
Meregali is part of New Wave Jiujitsu in Texas, headed by modern-day master John Danaher. The team includes the aforementioned Meregali, ADCC gold medalist Giancarlo Bodoni, former ONE featherweight world title challenger and grappling icon Garry Tonon, and consensus No-Gi GOAT, Gordon Ryan.
The Brazilian Meregali outweighed Tye Ruotolo and beat him via the judges' decision in the semifinals match of the absolutes division. In a heated back-and-forth contest, the bout reached the overtime period and yet, no fighter scored a point or a submission. The win was at the hands of the judges, who saw Meregali edging out Ruotolo by a small margin.
Look to see Reinier de Ridder improve on the similarly-sized Meregali's performance against Ruotolo come May 5.
Fans in North America can catch ONE Fight Night 10 in US primetime on May 5, live and for free on Prime Video with an Amazon subscription.
