Reinier de Ridder says his “2023 redemption tour” starts with Tye Ruotolo in May

Former ONE light-heavyweight and reigning ONE middleweight world champion Reinier de Ridder is bound for a submission grappling super-fight against ADCC Absolutes medalist Tye Ruotolo. The bout, which will take place at ONE Fight Night 10 on May 5th, will be De Ridder's second bout in ONE submission grappling.

'The Dutch Knight' devastatingly lost one of his belts late last year, when ONE interim heavyweight king Anatoly Malykhin shut his lights off for the light-heavyweight strap. Battered but never beaten, however, Reinier de Ridder plans to make an epic comeback trail to the top, starting with his match with Tye Ruotolo.

In a lengthy Instagram post by De Ridder, he spoke about his upcoming match, calling it the start of his "comeback tour":

Reinier de Ridder said:

"My 2023 redemption tour starts with this grappling match vs the young grappling superstar Tye. It's so cool to be able to test my self against the worlds best pure grapplers, first @galvaobjj and now his pupil. This time I have really been able to focus all my time and energy on grappling so I'm excited to find out how far I came."

The Dutch MMA grappler continued:

"And it's a historic event as it's @onechampionship's first in the states. So I get to spend some more time in Texas with the New Wave crew soon and prepare to the fullest. This means the world to me so let's find out who the man is. 👀"

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Reinier de Ridder trains with Gordon Ryan and New Wave Jiujitsu ahead of the clash with Tye Ruotolo

In the latter part of the caption, De Ridder mentioned the great "New Wave crew" in Texas. For those who are unaware, New Wave Jiujitsu is a grappling superteam headed by modern-day jiujitsu master John Danaher.

The team includes former ONE featherweight world title challenger and grappling icon Garry Tonon, ADCC Absolutes silver medalist Nicholas Meregali, and the consensus No-Gi Jiujitsu GOAT, Gordon Ryan, just to name a few.

'The Dutch Knight' visited the team a few weeks back to cross-train with some of New Wave's elite grapplers. He posted it on Instagram:

""All easy rounds today 😂"

Reinier de Ridder, choosing to train with Gordon Ryan and Nicholas Meregali, might also be playing some mind games with his May 5th opponent. Ruotolo has had some intense beef with Ryan, which has spilled over on social media in the past.

For Meregali, the Brazilian athlete beat Tye Ruotolo in the semi-finals of the 2022 ADCC Absolutes division and finished in second place that year. If anything, it's quite useful for De Ridder to train with someone who's already beaten his opponent.

Fans in North America can catch ONE Fight Night 10 in US primetime on May 5th, live and for free on Prime Video with an Amazon subscription.