Tye Ruotolo, a rising star in the sport of submission grappling, is feeling extremely confident about his next competition since he has practised every position he can think of in order to get ready for an additional difficult test.
After going through a hard stretch against the Danaher Death Squad (DDS), Ruotolo was able to improve his leg-lock defence and is now particularly confident in that aspect of his overall skill set. Gordon Ryan, Ethan Crelinsten, and Nicky Ryan are a few of the guys who make up the DDS. The illustrious John Danaher serves as the organization’s leader.
Ruotolo discussed what he picked up from competing against members of DDS in a recent interview with The MMA Superfan, as well as how it helped him and his twin brother Kade better their leg-lock game:
When my brother and I finally started to adjust our strategy and figure out the heel hooks, there was a significant shift in the nature of the game. We were unquestionably taken advantage of by Nicky Ryan and Ethan Crelinsten, who were members of the Danaher Death Squad. They both popped our ankles and knees, and we were like, “Woah, the heel hooks are gnarly.” They both popped our ankles and knees. We were forced to respect them, and as a result, we progressed.
Ruotolo continued by saying that ever since then, their leg-locking has been performing exceptionally well. The phenomenon that has lasted for 20 years came to the following conclusions:
“Since then, I have the impression that we have been very successful in all of the matches we’ve had against the DDS, regardless of whether it was Craig [Jones] or Nicky. Perhaps even in the ones that we were unable to save because we ran out of time, the problem was that they were gassing, and it wasn’t anything particularly technical.
Former two-division ONE world champion ‘The Dutch Knight’ Reinier de Ridder, who will be Ruotolo’s next opponent, has been training with Danaher and other members of DDS in preparation for their fight.
The fight between Ruotolo and de Ridder will take place on Prime Video during ONE Fight Night 10: Johnson vs Moraes III. On Friday, May 5, the event will be presented in its entirety through live broadcast from the 1stBank Centre in Colorado. It will be available to stream for free for fans in the United States and Canada who have a current subscription to Amazon Prime.
