Tye Ruotolo is already a two-sport champion, extremely early in his mixed martial arts career. The Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ) world champion and pound-for-pound grappling star shocked the MMA world by absolutely destroying a veteran champ in just his third career bout.
Christian Lee has been an MMA champion for the last seven years, with the two-division ONE champion actually talking about how he’d be able to beat his UFC counterpart Islam Makhachev ahead of this latest title defense. Lee has just
one loss in the last eight years, while the 23-year-old Ruotolo has only been fighting for a year.
Pundits gave the BJJ star a good chance, should he get take it to the ground and use his vaunted jiu-jitsu game, but Ruotolo actually won with his striking. He chose to stand with Lee, and badly knocked down and hurt the veteran MMA champion in the opening minute. He showcased a rounded MMA game for his experience, and followed up with nasty ground and pound before finishing with a rear naked choke.
Ruotolo officially won in just 2 minutes and 8 seconds, winning ONE’s title at 170 lbs at the iconic Lumpinee stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.
Tye Ruotolo, who won the IBJJF world title in 2022, now holds ONE’s titles in both MMA and grappling. His twin brother Kade Ruotolo is also 4-0 in MMA, while also winning titles in ADCC and CJI.
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