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BJJ superstar Tye Ruotolo took a trip down memory lane and relived his previous encounter with Dante Leon before their upcoming showdown for the ONE welterweight submission grappling world title on May 2 at ONE Fight Night 31.
The reigning divisional king said that he had a tough battle with the Canadian athlete almost six years ago when he was just a teen and proclaimed that Leon was a solid opponent, as he explained with ONE Championship in a recent interview:
"I don't know if he was a no-gi world champion yet at the time, but he was definitely a super, super solid black belt competitor. I knew it was gonna be a tough match. I think I was a blue belt at the time, maybe, like, 16."
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Now, both athletes will fittingly compete on the global stage for the coveted 26-pound golden belt that Ruotolo currently holds. This will be his second defense of the world title since winning it in November 2016 at ONE Fight Night 16.
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Tye Ruotolo wants to entertain the fans in attendance at the Lumpinee Stadium at ONE Fight Night 31
The Atos representative also mentioned during his talk with the world's largest martial arts organization that he wants to compensate the support of fans who will attend to watch him compete by putting on a show for them.
The 22-year-old BJJ savant said that this is the best that he and the other athletes who will be competing on the card can do to make sure that their money and time are going to be worth it:
"People come, they spend their money, all these locals are spending their hard-earned money coming from who knows where to watch these people. The least they could do is be entertained. That's the least we could do for them, right?"
North American viewers with an active Prime Video subscription can watch all the action at ONE Fight Night 31 on May 2, which will take place inside the Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.
