"It's more than just a match" - Tye Ruotolo on the opportunity to fight amongst BJJs finest in ONE Championship

As one of the pioneer world title holders in ONE Championship, reigning ONE welterweight submission grappling world Tye Ruotolo feels like he is spearheading the development and advancement of submission grappling in the promotion.

Ruotolo revealed this during his appearance on The Shintaro Higashi Show's YouTube channel. He featured in an interview with his twin, Kade, ahead of his world title defense against Izaak Michell in the co-feature bout of ONE Fight Night 21 on April 5 inside the Mecca of Fighting, Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.

The 21-year-old American sensation believes that he also has the responsibility to prove that ONE Championship has the best grapplers on the planet. In this way, he also potentially wants to lure other submission artists to join the world's largest martial arts organization. Tye said:

"I feel like I'm fighting for more than just a belt, you know. And it's more than just a match, you know. There's a lot of guys here, I mean there are no other organization doing this submission grappling like bouts, you know. 100 percent not the way ONE's doing it."

The Atos representative became the newest member of the inaugural ONE submission grappling world champions in November 2023 after unanimously beating Magomed Abdulkadirov at ONE Fight Night 16.

---

Tye Ruotolo wants all the smoke against similar-styled opponent Izaak Michell at ONE Fight Night 21

For the first time in a long time, Tye Ruotolo is excited and looking forward to his upcoming match because he and his opponent will have an identical style of aggressive offense and pressure.

According to Tye Ruotolo, he expects the 25-year-old Australian to come right to him and try to score an early submission using his physicality. But the undefeated world champion is unfazed by this fact and will be ready to retaliate with his signature attack.

ONE Fight Night 21 will air live in U.S. primetime, free of charge for existing Prime Video subscribers in North America.