Tye Ruotolo says MMA ambitions only second to jiu-jitsu mission: “I got a lot more to prove”

When you’re held up as one of the best in the world, regardless of the chosen field, it can be hard to keep your spot at the pinnacle. Despite that tough task, Tye Ruotolo hasn’t stalled one bit.

Since signing with ONE Championship, he has proven his willingness to put himself in the firing line by taking on the biggest challenges that are out there for him.

Keeping himself motivated, the 20-year-old grappling prodigy has continued to develop as a competitor as he establishes his name as one of the best grapplers in the world today.

At ONE Fight Night 16, Tye finally got the opportunity to join his brother Kade at the top of the card by becoming a submission grappling world champion inside the Circle.

This past weekend, he faced off with Magomed Abdulkadirov for the inaugural ONE welterweight submission grappling world championship.

Once again, Ruotolo proved why the grappling style that he and his brother implement every time out is so effective in the ruleset that ONE Championship has put into place.

Favoring aggression over control, the high pace and chaining of submission attacks give both brothers a clear advantage over their more defensively-minded opponents.

Securing the decision win once the contest reached the scheduled time limit, Tye Ruotolo finally became the fourth submission grappling world champion in the history of the promotion.

During his post-fight interview with commentator Mitch Chilson, he spoke about his desire to separate himself from the rest of the pack and how, for the time being, other pursuits like MMA are on the back burner so he can put his single-minded focus into grappling:

“Ever since I was three years old, I always wanted to be the best of all time in jiu-jitsu. I haven’t gotten that yet. I’m close, and I got a lot more to prove.”

North American viewers with an active Amazon Prime Video subscription can rewatch all the action from ONE Fight Night 16, including Ruotolo’s title-winning performance, via the free event replay.