Tye Ruotolo and Reinier de Ridder both came out and put on a fantastic show at ONE Fight Night 10 on May 5th, 2023. It was the first event that ONE Championship had ever staged in the USA and the entire card was incredible, including three title-fights across three different combat sports disciplines. Ruotolo v de Ridder was announced as one of the first few main card matches, demonstrating just how stacked the full event actually was. While Ruotolo is obviously the more experienced grappler out of the two, de Ridder is a phenomenal MMA fighter who is known for his elite grappling.
The pair started out fighting for dominant position standing, with de Ridder looking for snapdowns while Ruotolo was pressuring him out of open space and up against the cage. Ruotolo got in on a single-leg briefly at one point but wasn’t able to do anything with it, eventually working his way to a Russian 2-on-1 and using that to pin de Ridder against the cage. De Ridder worked himself free but Ruotolo managed to snatch another Russian 2-on-1, using it to attack the back this time. He got a glimpse of de Ridder’s back but couldn’t secure it and the pair returned to face one another.
De Ridder hit a quick little foot-sweep that off-balanced Ruotolo well but he recovered immediately. Ruotolo was trying to put a pace on de Ridder in the clinch but it was difficult for him to get much going against the bigger athlete. Ruotolo shoots in and uses it to transition to a bodylock but de Ridder starts looking for a d’arce choke and the threat causes Ruotolo to disengage. After a little more back-and-forth in the clinch, Ruotolo reaches for another single-leg and gets a good grip on it this time around. De Ridder uses the cage to stabilise himself though and eventually works his way free.
The pair found themselves in over-under and de Ridder drove Ruotolo against the cage, leaning heavily on him and trying to wear him down. Ruotolo managed to pummel to double-unders and secure a bodylock, but de Ridder countered with an uchi mata and used the reaction to create distance. De Ridder attempted another uchi mata as the pair engaged but Ruotolo countered by slipping around to his back and locked his hands to control his opponent. De Ridder broke the grip and managed to turn back into him, attempting another uchi mata during the exchange.
The pair break free and continue handfighting for a good position, when Ruotolo surprises his opponent by going for a double-leg and driving him to the cage. After a little more fighting for position, de Ridder hits the uchi mata he’s been looking for and gets Ruotolo to his knees but isn’t able to keep him there. De Ridder snaps Ruotolo down and tries to set up a guillotine but Ruotolo picks up a single-leg, drives his opponent to the ground, and escapes the choke all in one quick movement. Ruotolo snatches the front headlock as de Ridder scrambles to his feet and tries to work for a d’arce choke, but de Ridder escapes. Ruotolo hits a kani basami in the dying seconds of the match but isn’t able to capitalise on it before the time runs out.
Tye Ruotolo and Reinier de Ridder put on a gruelling match at ONE Fight Night 10 and it took a lot out of both men but in the end, it was Ruotolo who won the unanimous decision. The takedown that he landed in the final minute of the match is really what sealed his victory, but it’s likely that the judges would have given it to him anyway based on him pushing the pace throughout the match and pinning de Ridder against the cage multiple times. This wasn’t the only grappling match of the event either, as Mikey Musumeci put on an amazing performance and defended his flyweight title against Osamah Almarwai later on in the night.
ONE Fight Night 10 Full Results
Demetrious Johnson defeats Adriano Moraes via Decision – Unanimous
Johnson retains the ONE Championship Flyweight MMA World Championship
Rodtang Jitmuangnon defeats Edgar Tabares via Knockout – Elbow
Jitmuangnon retains the ONE Championship Flyweight Muay Thai World Championship
Mikey Musumeci defeats Osamah Almarwai via Submission – Rear-naked Choke
Musumeci retains the ONE Championship Flyweight Submission Grappling World Championship
Stamp Fairtex defeats Alyse Anderson via Knockout – Body Kick
Zebaztian Kadestam defeats Roberto Soldic via Knockout – Punches
Sage Northcutt defeats Ahmed Mujtaba via Submission – Heel Hook
Aung La Nsang defeats Fan Rong via Submission – Guillotine
Jackie Buntan defeats Diandra Martin via TKO – Punch
Tye Ruotolo defeats Reinier de Ridder via Decision – Unanimous
Kairat Akhmetov defeats Reece McLaren via Decision – Unanimous
Ok Rae Yoon defeats Lowen Tynanes via Decision – Unanimous
The full ONE Fight Night 10 event, including the match between Tye Ruotolo and Reinier de Ridder is available to watch on the official ONE Championship YouTube channel:
