Adriano Moraes names who he thought won the Reinier de Ridder vs. Andre Galvao grappling match

ONE flyweight world champion Adriano Moraes watched the highly anticipated submission grappling showdown between two-division ONE world champion Reinier de Ridder and Brazilian jiu-jitsu legend Andre Galvao at ONE X.

The bout lasted the full 12-minute duration, with the result being declared a draw. However, Adriano Moraes, a feared grappler in the circle himself, thought Galvao had done enough to win the grappling super-match with ‘The Dutch Knight'.

Adriano Moraes believes Galvao was clearly the aggressor and had the most submission attempts, as he candidly told ONE Championship:

"The fight between them was very lively. I managed to watch a little bit because I fought on the same card. In my opinion, Andre Galvao won the fight because he got the best positions and attacked more... Reinier de Ridder fought very well, but Andre arrived in the best positions. He even took de Ridder's back, so I would give the victory to Andre Galvao."

The ruleset for these fights indicate that athletes are to compete in a submission-only format consisting of one 12-minute round. If both competitors fail to submit their respective opponents by the time the 12 minutes expire, the bout is automatically declared a draw.

As a result of the anti-climatic grappling bout between Galvao and de Ridder, ONE Championship made a few changes to the submission-only format.

Now, if a match ends without a submission after 12 minutes, the competitor with the most submission attempts will be declared the winner. Yellow cards were also added, which will be given to a competitor for stalling.

With the new set of rules in place, draws can be avoided.

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Besides Adriano Moraes, Andre Galvao also believes Reinier De Ridder played it safe at ONE X

Multi-time Pan-American world champion Andre Galvao would probably agree with Moraes’ sentiments. Galvao believes the ONE middleweight and light heavyweight world champion simply played it safe that night.

He told ONE:

"He used the 12 minutes and the cage experience to just defend and not do much. I don’t think he tried anything. So I think he felt that if he tried something, he could open up an opportunity for me to finish him. So he played it safe.”

World-class grappler Danielle Kelly faced a similar situation at ONE X when she collided with Japanese icon Mei Yamaguchi. After 12 minutes of action, the referee called it a draw.

Arguably, Kelly would have won the match. She outmaneuvered Yamaguchi from beginning to end, and if it weren’t for Yamaguchi’s terrific defense, Kelly would likely have had enough time to fish for a submission. Under the new ruleset, there is no doubt Kelly would have emerged the victor.