Tye Ruotolo ‘stoked’ to be tapped for inaugural ONE welterweight submission grappling world title

With his brother currently running the show at 170 pounds, Tye Ruotolo was thrilled to find out that he would be competing for the inaugural ONE welterweight world championship.

The 20-year-old submission sensation scored his fourth-straight win inside the iconic Lumpinee Boxing Stadium at ONE Fight Night 13, submitting Turkish knockout artist Dagi Arslanaliev in less than three minutes. However, the truly big news came during his post-fight interview with Mitch Chilson.

It was then that Tye Ruotolo discovered that he would be competing for the promotion’s first-ever 185-pound submission grappling world title. Speaking about the surprise with The South China Morning Post, Ruotolo revealed that he is “super stoked” for the opportunity to become a champion without having to go through his brother:

“You know they surprised me with that tonight and I was kinda pushing for that, the past few months hoping for a 185-lb division,” Ruotolo said. “170 is pretty occupied with my brother so yeah the 185-lb division surprised me tonight. They gave me an opportunity for the belt and I’m just super stoked you know. I’m ready to perform let’s do it.”

Watch the full interview below:

No other details have been revealed regarding date, location, or opponent, but given his quick finish of Dagi Arslanaliev on Friday night, we imagine Tye Ruotolo will be chomping at the bit to return to the mat and claim 26 pounds of ONE Championship gold for himself.

If you missed any of the action or just want to relive an epic night in ONE Championship history, the ONE Fight Night 13 replay can be watched anytime on demand via Amazon Prime Video in North America.