Tye Ruotolo shares his ideal opponents if he competes in the gi

Tye Ruotolo has made a name for himself by being one of the best no-gi grapplers in the world, but if he wants to test himself with the gi on, he has a good idea of who he should go up against.

The grappling phenom is set to take on Reinier de Ridder in a middleweight submission grappling contest at ONE Fight Night 10 this Friday, May 5th. Their match will be part of ONE Championship’s monumental first event live on U.S. soil, which will be held inside a sold-out 1stBank Center in Colorado.

During an appearance at The MMA Superfan, Tye Ruotolo shared who he would like to face in a dream match with the gi on. The 20-year-old said:

"I want to fight Tainan. In the gi, I know it’s going to be a harder match, for sure. He’s strong and he’s probably the best right now, for sure. I think there’s only a couple of guys in the world that could give him a challenge in his weight. Maybe me and Mica [Galvao]. I’m excited to get in the division with him and challenge him."

Tainan Dalpra is currently signed with ONE Championship but has yet to make his promotional debut. While submission grappling matches in the promotion have been of the no-gi variety, it wouldn’t be surprising to see competitors roll in a gi in the future, especially if both Dalpra and Ruotolo agree to such a stipulation.

Meanwhile, Mica Galvao emerged victorious against Tye Ruotolo in the 2022 IBJJF World Jiu-Jitsu Championship black belt lightweight division final. However, it was later revealed that Galvao tested positive for a banned substance, giving Ruotolo the distinction of being the youngest IBJJF world champion of all time. It will be amazing to see them run it back on the global stage of ONE Championship.

Before any of those things could happen though, Tye Ruotolo must first get past ONE middleweight world champion Reinier de Ridder in their middleweight submission grappling match at ONE Fight Night 10 this Friday, May 2nd.

Fans in North America can catch all the action live and for free on Prime Video with an active Amazon subscription.