Tye Ruotolo says Gordon Ryan was ‘the easiest to deal with’ from a certain perspective

20-year-old Brazilian jiu-jitsu phenom and ONE Championship middleweight Tye Ruotolo has his eyes set on taking on some of the most daunting challenges in the world of submission grappling. Perhaps the biggest name he is after is the polarizing American competitor ‘King’ Gordon Ryan.

Ryan is considered by many to be one of the best submission grapplers on the planet. To go along with his supreme BJJ skill, Ryan is also a terrific self-promoter of his matches.

Often playing the role of heel, fans either love or hate Ryan. Needless to say, he’s always in the public consciousness, as far as grappling is concerned, and Ruotolo wants all the smoke.

Speaking to South China Morning Post in a recent interview a couple of weeks ago, Ruotolo talked about imagining how a fight with Ryan would go, including the buildup.

The 20-year-old said:

“Gordon is kind of tough too. I always thought that he's the easiest to deal with maybe on marketing. He's always on the go. He's at the top right now.”

Ruotolo is fresh off cornering his brother, reigning ONE lightweight submission grappling world champion Kade Ruotolo at ONE Fight Night 11: Eersel vs. Menshikov on Prime Video earlier this month.

The event took place at the iconic Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand, with Kade taking home a unanimous decision win after a tough battle with former IBJJF European Open champion Tommy Langaker to retain his belt.

Fans in the United States and Canada can catch all the action of ONE Fight Night 11 via replay on Amazon Prime Video.