Reinier De Riddler Vs. Tye Ruotolo Booked For ONE Championship's U.S. Debut

ONE Championship has bolstered its bout lineup for its historic main venture into United States territory on May 5th, with the addition of a submission grappling super-fight between Reinier de Ridder and Tye Ruotolo.

The promotion publicly confirmed the match-up on Tuesday, February 7, which had fans raving about it due to the fact that it pits one of the best submission artists in mixed martial arts (MMA) today against a revered Brazilian jiu-jitsu prodigy.

Both men have openly expressed their desire to meet under this rule set, and they will finally get the opportunity in the organization's much-awaited debut on American soil.

Though de Ridder has primarily figured in MMA contests for a decade, his prowess in the grappling department cannot be denied as 11 of his 16 career victories have come by way of submission.

In addition, his knack for forcing his opponents to tap earned the feat of becoming a two-division world champion by submitting Aung La N Sang on two different occasions to simultaneously hold the ONE middleweight and light heavyweight titles.

In fact, the International Business Times hailed de Ridder's inverted triangle choke of Vitaly Bigdash at ONE 159 as the best submission win under the organization's banner in 2022.

"The Dutch Knight" is no stranger to the submission grappling realm as he took on Ruotolo's mentor Andre Galvao at ONE X in March of last year, which settled for an anticlimactic draw after 12 minutes of action.

De Ridder looks to begin his 2023 on a triumphant note after relinquishing the lightweight championship to interim heavyweight titleholder Anatoly Malykhin at ONE Fight Night 5 this past December via first-round knockout.

In the other corner, Ruotolo is known around the globe for his relentless submission hunting and firebrand style of grappling.

On his first trip to the Circle, the American phenom brilliantly displayed his all-out attack and forced Garry Tonon to tap out in 97 seconds at ONE 157 in May 2022.

Ruotolo followed it up with another victory at the expense of Marat Gafurov, submitting the former featherweight kingpin a little over the five-minute mark at ONE Fight Night 5.

ONE Fight Night 10 will air live from 1stBank Center in Broomfield, Colorado, featuring a flyweight world championship trilogy encounter between Demetrious Johnson and Adriano Moraes.