As Ric Flair once famously said, "To be the man, you gotta beat the man."
It’s no secret that the Ruotolo twins, Kade and Tye, have both had their differences with the infamous Gordon Ryan.
However, at the end of the day, the pair of ONE Championship superstars acknowledge that ‘The King’ is still considered the best submission grappler in the world today.
In his quest to become the best jiu-jitsu and submission grappling athlete of all time, Tye Ruotolo has a hit list of the best fighters that he wants to take out one by one.
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Names like Tainan Dalpra and Nicholas Meregali are part of the plan, but the ultimate goal is to beat the mighty Ryan in battle.
During his ONE Fight Night 11 post-fight interview last weekend, Kade Ruotolo spilled the beans on his brother’s desire to take out the pound-for-pound best grappler in the world today:
“To be honest, I think that's one that Tye's been after forever. And that's one that Tye wants to really accomplish. Tye wants to be the greatest of all time in jiu-jitsu. To do that he's got to beat Gordon. So it's just a matter of time.”
Friction between Tye Ruotolo and Gordon Ryan ignited early this year when they hurled not-so-friendly barbs at each other online. While no match was ever finalized, it’s a dream fight that grappling fans all over the world want to see.
For now, Tye is content with taking out every challenger in his way until he gets to the final boss, Gordon Ryan.
As for Kade Ruotolo, he currently has a different set of priorities from his sibling.
The 20-year-old successfully defended his ONE lightweight submission grappling world title against Tommy Langaker and now has sights on making his MMA debut.
Prime Video members in North America can rewatch the replay of Kade Ruotolo’s performance at ONE Fight Night 11 free of charge.