Tye Ruotolo shares how competing against DDS helped him evolve

Submission grappling star Tye Ruotolo is heading into his next match full of confidence, having drilled every position he possibly could to prepare himself for another tough challenge.

Ruotolo is particularly confident in his leg-lock defense, having upgraded that area of his skill set following a rough patch against the Danaher Death Squad [DDS]. The DDS consists of guys like Gordon Ryan, Ethan Crelinsten, and Nicky Ryan, and is headed by the legendary John Danaher.

In a recent interview with The MMA Superfan, Ruotolo talked about what he learned from competing against members of DDS, and how it helped improve his and twin brother Kade’s leg-lock game:

“There was a big change in the game when my brother and I really started to adapt and figure out the heel hooks. We definitely fell victim to the DDS [Danaher Death Squad] with Nicky Ryan and Ethan Crelinsten. They both popped our ankles and knees and we were like, ‘Woah, the heel hooks are gnarly.' We had to respect them and we evolved from that.”

Catch the interview below:

Ruotolo added that since then, their leg-locking has been on point. The 20-year-old phenom concluded:

“I feel since then, in all the matches we’ve had against the DDS, whether it was Craig [Jones] or Nicky, we’ve been very successful. Maybe even in the ones that we lost, because we ran out of time, they were gassing and it wasn’t anything sort of technical.”

Ruotolo’s upcoming opponent, former two-division ONE world champion ‘The Dutch Knight’ Reinier de Ridder, has been working with Danaher and other members of DDS in preparation for their match.

Ruotolo and de Ridder will meet at ONE Fight Night 10: Johnson vs Moraes III on Prime Video. The event will be broadcast live from 1stBank Center in Colorado on Friday, May 5. It will stream free to fans in the United States and Canada with an active Amazon Prime subscription.