Tye Ruotolo: Reinier de Ridder promises to submit Tye Ruotolo at ONE Fight Night 9

Reigning ONE middleweight and former light heavyweight world champion Reinier de Ridder is out to prove that he is one of, if not the greatest, grappling specialists in MMA. He will do so by locking horns with the youngest IBJJF black belt world champion and one of the most dangerous BJJ artists today, Tye Ruotolo.

The pair will tangle in the featured bout at ONE Fight Night 10 on May 5th at 1stBank Center in Colorado. The event will mark ONE Championship's first-ever on-ground live show on US soil. The event will also mark Reinier de Ridder's "redemption tour" in an effort to get back to winning ways after losing his light heavyweight belt to Anatoly Malykhin late last year.

'The Dutch Knight' will start his journey back to the top by challenging a BJJ specialist in his own game: submission grappling. Ahead of the bout, De Ridder posted on his Instagram, promising a win via submission:

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"3 weeks out. This might be away from comfort zone but I am fully committed to this match. I have left no stone unturned, trained like a madman and spent time away from my family. Make no mistake this is the start of the rest of my career. I’m strangling this dude."

The obvious size disparity only made the match all the more interesting as Reinier de Ridder mostly fights at a weight class more than 30 pounds above Tye Ruotolo. The young BJJ blackbelt, however, has proven in the past that he can handle and beat much larger men in submission grappling matches.

Reinier de Ridder is pushing himself to extremes in preparation for ONE Fight Night 10

'The Dutch Knight' is definitely leaving no stone unturned as he chose to train with larger men in preparation for the May 5 bout. He posted it on his Instagram:

Reinier de Ridder is training in good company as Gordon Ryan (second from left) and Nicholas Meregali (far right) are two of the best big men in jiu-jitsu today. Ryan is considered by many to be the greatest No-Gi grappler of all time, while Meregali is a three-time IBJJF world champion and ADCC Absolutes silver medalist. He was also the last man to defeat Tye Ruotolo.

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

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Duane is an expert MMA writer at Sportskeeda with 15 years of experience working for the likes of Philippine Star, Esquire Philippines, Playboy Philippines, etc. A major in English, he has written over 2000 articles for Sportskeeda section, extensively covering UFC and boxing fights.

Duane is a practicing MMA fighter with a 11-7 record. He is also a Brazilian jiu-jitsu purple belt and trains Muay Thai. His connection with MMA dates back to 2005, when he turned into a fan after watching Fedor Emelianenko defeat Mirko ‘Cro Cop’ Filipovic at Pride FC - Final Conflict 2005.

Emelianenko finds himself right at the top of Duane’s Mt. Rushmore of MMA fighters, alongside other big names like Demetrious Johnson, Jon Jones, Georges St-Pierre, and Anderson Silva.

Duane’s love for the sport is reflected in his writings, where he believes in speculating but not insinuating. He uses his intensive knowledge and skills in MMA to provide unique insights to the readers, along with sourcing information only from reliable sources.

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Edited by Nicolaas Ackermann