Tye Ruotolo admits Jozef Chen's strength caught him off-guard: "He's a tough kid, but maybe a little stronger than I thought"

ONE welterweight submission grappling world champion Tye Ruotolo concedes that he did underestimate Jozef Chen's power a bit in the lead-up to ONE Fight Night 23.

Though it was business as usual for the ONE world champion in his 186-pound catchweight duel against the South African debutant, the latter ensured that his rival had to work extra hard for his win inside Bangkok's legendary Lumpinee Stadium.

"He's pretty much exactly how I anticipated him to be, very good technique. He's a tough kid, but maybe a little stronger than I thought," Tye Ruotolo said of Chen's strength at the official ONE Fight Night 23 post-event press conference.

"You know, he looks like a nerd online, to be honest with you. But he's a little bit stronger in person," he added.

Chen's strength, though it didn't look like much for the California native to deal with, did threaten to slow down the Atos representative on occasions as he attempted to look for openings from the B-Team athlete's guard.

Still, as courageous as the 19-year-old was, he never seemed to be able to tally a sequence of attacks that had Ruotolo worried.

The welterweight submission grappling king eventually earned the unanimous decision win to extend his perfect record under the ONE Championship banner.

---

Tye Ruotolo vows to put on a better performance in next outing

While he crossed the finish line with his hand raised, the 21-year-old thinks it was a rather forgettable night out for him at ONE Fight Night 23.

In the press conference, Tye Ruotolo bared a mix of emotions as he graded his latest victory under the ONE spotlight:

"I'm stoked to get it done, but in my next performance, I will be better."

"I'm going to go home and get in front of everything that would prevent me from having a great performance. In my next one, I'll perform how I'm supposed to."

Watch the full interview here:

The ONE Fight Night 23 replay is available for active Amazon Prime Video subscribers in North America.