ONE Welterweight Submission Grappling World Champion Tye Ruotolo defended his crown for the first time this past weekend at ONE Fight Night 21 on Prime Video. And with the abundance of success he and his twin brother Tye have gained recently, the pair feel very thankful.
Both brothers competed on Friday, April 5, inside Bangkok, Thailand’s Lumpinee Boxing Stadium, showcasing their aggressive style of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Kade submitted Francisco Lo that night to retain his crown. And in a stroke of luck, Tye executed the same finish later that evening in the co-main event against Izaak Michell.
The pair have been on a journey to the top of the jiu-jitsu game since they were kids. And at only 21 years old, they’re aware how meteoric their rise has been. But with everything they’ve achieved, Kade feels very thankful for the life he’s afforded.
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“My brother and I, we were in our hotel room, we were looking over some matches, and we were just talking with each other, and we were just talking about how we’ve been so blessed our entire lives,” Tye said.
“We had to take a second and just make sure that it doesn’t go unnoticed, because sometimes it just feels like we’re on this roller coaster. We took a second, and we were looking at us, like man, we’re so lucky.”
Despite being thankful, the pair haven’t let success get to their heads. So much so, Tye will make his MMA debut at ONE 167 in June against Blake Cooper as he embarks on a journey to conquer another realm.
“He Keeps Running” – Tye Ruotolo Keen To Avenge Defeat To Nicholas Meregali
ONE Welterweight Submission Grappling World Champion Tye Ruotolo has been a force to be reckoned with in ONE Championship. The American grappling dynamo has won all six of his promotional battles in one of the most impressive streaks in submission grappling.
However, there’s one man on his mind who he wants a rematch with, and that’s Nicholas Meregali. The multi-time IBJJF World Champion was the last man to beat Ruotolo in no-gi competition. The American wants to run it back, but he believes Meregali wants nothing to do with him.
“I don’t want to sound like a broken record, but [I want to face] Nicholas Meregali. Really, that’s the only name that I want to call out right now. He keeps running,” Ruotolo said.
It’s unclear yet if Ruotolo will get his wish, but a rematch inside the ONE Championship battleground would certainly be the most hot-blooded clash of Ruotolo’s promotional career.