Reinier de Ridder vows to become double champion again

ONE middleweight king Reinier de Ridder may have lost his light heavyweight world title last December, but 'The Dutch Knight' has vowed to regain double-champ status in the future.

De Ridder suffered his first pro MMA defeat at ONE on Prime Video 5, losing to Russian powerhouse Anatoly Malykhin in the very first round. Despite the setback, the 32-year-old star firmly believes that he'll become a double-champ again.

'The Dutch Knight' is scheduled to face BJJ sensation Tye Ruotolo in a submission grappling superfight at ONE Fight Night 10 on Prime Video. It will be De Ridder's second submission grappling contest, drawing against André Galvão in 2022.

"This is me you f**ks and I will put 2 belts over my shoulders again. Can not wait to compete."

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Reinier de Ridder says it's 'very cool' to grapple against Tye Ruotolo at ONE Fight Night 10

The middleweight champ is excited to grapple against someone as highly thought of as Tye Ruotolo. Reinier de Ridder told ONE Championship:

“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.”

The Combat Brothers affiliate added:

“I’m not even a grappler. I’m an MMA fighter, so it’s very cool that I get this opportunity.”

Ruotolo is a 20-year-old jiu-jitsu star who is 2-0 inside the Circle with a pair of submissions over Garry Tonon and Marat Gafurov. He and his brother Kade have taken the submission grappling world by storm since joining ONE.

Meanwhile, De Ridder is a very accomplished grappler in his own right, owning black belts in both jiu-jitsu and judo. Of his seven victories inside the Circle, four have come by way of submission.

Make sure to tune in to ONE Fight Night 10 on May 5 to watch Reinier de Ridder make his return to submission grappling against BJJ phenom Tye Ruotolo, live from the 1stBank Center in Broomfield, Colorado.

All of the action can be broadcast live and for free across North America with an Amazon Prime subscription.