Tye Ruotolo admits feeling pressure ahead of welterweight submission grappling title match: “It’s my job to block that out”

The pressure of fighting for his first world title is now getting into the nerves of Tye Ruotolo as he braces himself against Magomed Abdulkadirov in an opportunity to become the inaugural ONE welterweight submission grappling world champion.

Ruotolo has swept all four of his previous fights under the world’s largest martial arts organization to secure and set the stage for this shot at the golden belt. But the 20-year-old American still admits that he feels the weight of massive expectations.

He revealed this in his most recent ONE Championship interview and openly talked about it by saying:

“You can’t help but to think about [the pressure], for sure. You know, it pops into my mind here and there, and I think everyone’s different.”

Despite this pressure that bothers him from time to time, the Atos representative has set the record straight and recognized that he needs to contain it and instead focus on his upcoming Russian opponent.

He added:

“But for me, I feel like it’s my job to kind of block that out and focus on the task at hand. Because I’m not fighting the title. I’m fighting Magomed.”

The one-half of the famous Ruotolo brothers is expected to use every ounce of his fighting experience competing in ONE Championship’s grandest stage, especially knowing that Abdulkadirov is a newcomer to the promotion.

If Tye gets the job done against the Russian veteran, he and his brother Kade will make history as the first and only twin brothers to hold simultaneous world titles in ONE Championship.

ONE Fight Night 16 Haggerty vs. Andrade on Prime Video will air live on US Primetime free of charge for existing Prime Video subscribers in North America.