Tye Ruotolo says learning Muay Thai in the heart of Thailand was a whole different experience: “I'm just sweating bullets”

Tye Ruotolo may have been a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu phenom, as he already earned a black belt at the young age of 20. However, the undefeated ONE Championship athlete admitted that training Muay Thai is a whole different experience than the gentle art of jiu-jitsu.

The American shared that he’s been dabbling into the art of eight limbs from time to time in between his grappling drills. Although he has quite some experience doing it in the United States, Ruotolo claimed that learning it from its motherland has made him nervous more than ever, especially from the top coaches from Thailand.

The Atos representative revealed this during his recent interview with The MMA Superfan and stated:

“I'll be honest, I did some Muay Thai back home, you know in California, but it's completely different going to the roots, going to the source. I remember my manager looked over. He was hitting the mitts with one of the coaches, and he looked over and trainer Gae has me on my toes only one foot, you know super high up, and he has my other leg in his hand and he's just making me balance on my toes, and I'm just sweating bullets curling, you know and I'm like ‘Dude put my leg down!’ and he’s like ‘No, you’re not getting it.’

Tye and his twin brother, Kade, had the opportunity to train under the Singha Mawynn Muay Thai team with renowned trainer Gae when they visited Thailand. This is also the reason the 20-year-old is backing Superbon for his upcoming fight with Tawanchai, as he has witnessed his immense preparation for the upcoming showdown.

Aside from the Ruotolo brothers, another ONE Championship submission grappling world champion, Mikey Musumeci, has also started training Muay Thai. ‘Darth Rigatoni’ receives his lessons from reigning ONE flyweight Muay Thai world champion Rodtang ever since moving to Thailand earlier this year.

Tye is in the final phase of his preparations for his upcoming ONE welterweight submission grappling world title match with Magomed Abdulkadirov in the co-main event of ONE Fight Night 16: Haggerty vs. Andrade on Prime Video on November 3, which will take place inside the Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.

The full event will air live on US Primetime free of charge for existing Prime Video subscribers in North America.