Tye Ruotolo will look to compete in a lighter weight class when he makes his MMA debut

Tye Ruotolo plans to fight at 170 pounds when he transitions to MMA.

The Ruotolo brothers have become two of the biggest superstars in ONE Championship’s expansion into submission grappling. Although Tye and Kade could make a full career with grappling, the 20-year-olds are motivated to compete in MMA.

During an interview with the South China Morning Post, Tye had this to say about the weight class he plans to fight at:

“Middleweight. What's 170? I think it's welterweight Yeah, that's the one. I'll probably cut down to 170 for the MMA. Fighting bigger guys in MMA is going to be a lot tougher.”

For clarification, ONE’s weight class limits are slightly different than most other combat sports promotions. Therefore, the lightweight division has a 170-pound weight limit, while welterweight is 185 pounds.

Tye Ruotolo first competed under the ONE Championship banner in May 2022. He quickly made a statement, submitting Garry Tonon in 1:22 to earn a $50,000 performance bonus from ONE Championship Chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong. In December 2022, Tye secured another $50,000 by submitting former ONE featherweight world champion Marat Gafurov.

Ruotolo last competed on May 5 at ONE Fight Night 10: Johnson vs. Moraes III on Prime Video. The young phenom was matched up against ONE middleweight world champion Reinier de Ridder, who seemed to have a big size advantage in the Circle. After ten grueling minutes, Tye Ruotolo emerged victorious by unanimous decision in the middleweight contest.

It’s unclear what’s next for Tye. There's a solid chance he potentially wants to compete in submission grappling again before prioritizing his MMA debut.