ONE Fight Night 31: “I had faith in the knee again” - Tye Ruotolo says his knee is better than ever ahead of Dante Leon showdown

Reigning and undisputed ONE welterweight submission grappling world champion Tye Ruotolo is coming off a harrowing knee injury that had left him sidelined for almost an entire year. But now that he's completely healed and back at full strength, Ruotolo is ready to return to the ONE Championship ring better than ever.

Speaking to the world's largest martial arts organization in a recent interview, Ruotolo shared updates on his injury and how he has recovered.

The 22-year-old phenom said:

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"I got some stem cells, which was awesome. Other than that, I was just surfing, making sure the knee was strong. I needed to get faith in my knee again. After a couple of months, I knew the ligaments were probably most likely healed for the most part, and I had faith in the knee again."

Ruotolo at full strength is one of the best submission grapplers in the world, and the 22-year-old will soon put his gold on the line when he makes his way back to the global stage of ONE Championship this weekend.

Tye Ruotolo to defend welterweight strap against Canadian rival Dante Leon

Tye Ruotolo will face Dante Leon in a highly anticipated ONE welterweight submission grappling world title bout at ONE Fight Night 31 on May 2. The event will take place at the Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.

Fans in the United States and Canada can tune in to Amazon Prime Video to catch all the action.

Stay tuned to Sportskeeda MMA for all the latest news and updates surrounding the event as it happens.

About the author

Dan is an MMA writer with 10+ years of overall experience. Before his ongoing tenure at Sportskeeda, Dan got the opportunity to be at the forefront of the sport by contributing to ONE Championship and Fight Game Asia. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology.

Dan’s connection to MMA started during the early days of the UFC and ONE Championship. He previously practiced boxing and ranks Demetrious Johnson, Anderson Silva, Georges St-Pierre, Jon Jones, and Fedor Emelianenko as the top five MMA fighters of all time.

He has covered several events onsite and on the ground for ONE Championship and hopes to continue doing so. He ensures that he churns out accurate articles by citing only legitimate sources and getting firsthand accounts through exclusive interviews whenever required.

Dan feels MMA fighter pay seems like an issue because it often gets compared to what fighters earn in boxing but that MMA will eventually catch up in the future.

His other interests include soccer and video games.

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Edited by Anurag Mitra