Tye Ruotolo plans to add more to his arsenal following win over Reinier de Ridder

Tye Ruotolo doesn’t accept mediocrity when it comes to Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ). Even following his recent victory over one of the top grapplers in the world, Tye believes there’s still room for improvement.

On May 5, all eyes were on Tye Ruotolo and Reinier de Ridder when they came face-to-face for the first time at ONE Fight Night 10: Johnson vs. Moraes III on Prime Video.

The American sensation built up a lot of steam last year when he called out the ONE middleweight world champion to a submission-only grappling match, following his second consecutive victory inside the circle.

Surprisingly, ‘The Dutch Knight’ accepted the youngster’s challenge even after having suffered a horrific KO to Anatoly Malykhin in his first world title defense of the ONE light heavyweight world title.

So going into the bout, both men felt like they had something to prove to the world, especially the international world of Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ).

Right from the onset, de Ridder strategically kept his back against the cage as Tye Ruotolo pressed forward to attack the head. The American superstar maintained the aggression to destabilize the bigger opponent, but de Ridder showcased great defense proving he was a lot more difficult to take down.

In the dying minutes of the 10-minute match, both men began to take risks in order to gain control. However, all attempts were either subverted or squashed before any advantageous position took hold.

In the aftermath, Reinier de Ridder believed he’d done enough, but because Tye Ruotolo showed more aggression for the takedown, he won by unanimous decision - an outcome that Tye was severely disappointed to have secured without having captured a submission.

On Instagram, he expressed the following statement to his fans:

“During the match I pushed the pace and felt great out there, Reinier did a good job of using the cage to keep the match standing. Back to the drawing board with my team to make improvements for the circle next time 👊🏽“

ONE Fight Night 10 replay can be watched for free via Amazon Prime Video in North America.