ONE Championship: Tye Ruotolo wants ‘last boss’ Gordon Ryan but ‘he’d rather sit behind keyboard and talk’
- Ruotolo will meet MMA champ Reinier de Ridder in submission grappling bout at ONE Fight Night 10 on Friday in Denver, Colorado
- The 20-year-old is aiming for matches with Nicholas Meregali and Ryan thereafter, and then plans to go ‘straight to MMA’
ONE Championship submission grappling star Tye Ruotolo has unfinished business with Gordon Ryan.
The two Brazilian jiu jitsu black belts, both Americans, have been linked to a bout for some time, but have yet to meet on the mats. Ruotolo, 20, is hoping that will finally soon – once he has packed on enough muscle to compete with his heavier rival.
“My goal in jiu jitsu is to be the best of all time, no matter what, no matter the size of my opponent, and to do that naturally without steroids,” Ruotolo told the Post in Denver, Colorado on Monday. “It might take a little longer, getting bigger, putting on more muscle, but that’s my plan: to take Gordon out.”
Ruotolo is in Denver for a grappling match with ONE middleweight MMA champ and fellow BJJ black belt Reinier De Ridder – who is also expected to be the larger, stronger man in their match-up.
He sees the bout with De Ridder, who has trained with Ryan, as a surmountable challenge – the reason he asked for the match-up after submitting Marat Gafurov last December. He also sees it as a good opportunity to get accustomed to fighting bigger opponents.
“I wouldn’t have called him out if I wasn’t pretty confident in the match,” he said. “He’s got good jiu jitsu. He’s a decorated double champ in MMA.
“I’ve got an amazing strength coach with me right now, my body’s feeling the best its ever felt, and my jiu jitsu, my technique,” he added. “It’s hard to bulk and feel agile, but that’s part of my game, so we’ve keeping the balance and it’s been working really well.
“I’m excited to test what we’ve been working on with Reinier, someone a bit bigger.”
