ONE Welterweight Submission Grappling World Champion Tye Ruotolo is going to follow his twin brother’s lead and finally make his long-awaited MMA debut at ONE Fight Night 35 on Prime Video on Friday, September 5.
The California-based BJJ prodigy will go head-to-head with undefeated Singaporean-American star Adrian “The Phenom” Lee at the U.S. primetime event, which broadcasts live from the world-famous Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.
Since joining ONE Championship in 2022, Ruotolo has been bulletproof.
The 22-year-old has been on a mission to establish himself as the greatest pound-for-pound grappler in the sport. To that point, he has bounced around weight classes to test his skills against world-class competition.
Ruotolo has won all eight of his submission grappling matches in ONE, defeating a who’s who in the sport including multi-time EBI Champion Garry “The Lion Killer” Tonon, former two-division ONE World Champion Reinier de Ridder, and grappling standouts Izaak Michell, Jozef Chen, and most recently, Dante Leon.
Along the way, he claimed the inaugural ONE Welterweight Submission Grappling World Title in November 2023 and successfully defended the gold twice.
Now, he is taking a cue from his twin brother – ONE Lightweight Submission Grappling World Champion Kade Ruotolo – and stepping into the MMA waters.
But he’ll face an incredibly formidable opponent in Lee, a bout Ruotolo welcomed with open arms following his victory over Leon two months ago.
Although he hasn’t competed in submission grappling under the ONE banner like his forthcoming opponent, Lee has been unstoppable in MMA.
“The Phenom” enjoyed an incredible rookie campaign in the world’s largest martial arts organization. He submitted Antonio Mammarella in his promotional debut via rear-naked choke in June 2024, and then he repeated the feat against Nico “The Steel City Kid” Cornejo three months later.
Lee then forced Takeharu Ogawa to tap out with an anaconda choke in 63 seconds at the ONE 172 blockbuster event this past March to go 3-0 and earn his third straight US$50,000 performance bonus.
Now, Lee draws his toughest challenge to date, as he welcomes the reigning ONE Welterweight Submission Grappling World Champion to the MMA realm.
The 19-year-old previously stated that he doesn’t think that he’s “a good matchup” for Ruotolo. On September 5, the global fan base will find out.
Stay tuned to onefc.com for more news about ONE Fight Night 35.
