Dante Leon ONE Fight Night 31: WATCH: Two-time BJJ world champ Dante Leon shows off his chops in gnarly submission of Bruno Pucci in ONE debut

WATCH: Two-time BJJ world champ Dante Leon shows off his chops in gnarly submission of Bruno Pucci in ONE debut

Modified Apr 10, 2025 11:20 GMT

Dante Leon impressed ONE Championship fans in his promotional debut in December 2024. [Photo via: ONE Championship] — Dante Leon impressed ONE Championship fans in his promotional debut in December 2024. [Photo via ONE Championship]

There is a certain excitement in the air whenever a new name makes their ONE Championship debut, and that is the best way to describe Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ) machine Dante Leon's first showing in the promotion.

At ONE Fight Night 26 last December, Leon was welcomed to the world's largest martial arts promotion by Brazilian veteran and MMA star Bruno Pucci. With both athletes having won two IBJJF no-gi gold medals each, fans expected an action-packed 10-minute submission grappling matchup.

Much to everyone's surprise, their bout only lasted for about two minutes. Leon caught 'Puccibull' in a modified Americana hold, which he later dubbed the 'Thunder Lock'.

Watch the submission sequence below, which ONE posted on Instagram:

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Leon built on his scintillating promotional debut with a unanimous decision victory over former ONE lightweight submission grappling world championship challenger Tommy Langaker this past January.

Barely five months into his ONE tenure, little did Leon expect to be named Tye Ruotolo's next challenger for the ONE welterweight submission grappling world championship.

Their world title clash will take place in the co-main event of ONE Fight Night 31 on May 2, inside the Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.

Kade Ruotolo excited to watch twin brother Tye battle Dante Leon

ONE lightweight submission grappling world champion Kade Ruotolo is raring to see how his twin will fare against Dante Leon since the winner of their world title bout will leave with the gold and also lead their head-to-head series at 2-1.

Ruotolo said in a recent interview with The Bangkok Post:

"Absolutely, I think his matchups are great, you know. Dante and Tye, right now, at that size, I couldn't think of a better matchup I'd rather see. Yeah, it's super exciting."

ONE Fight Night 31 will be available live and free to all Prime Video subscribers in the United States and Canada.

About the author

Karl has been an MMA writer at Sportskeeda since 2023. He holds a Bachelor of Arts major in history, which helps him pay attention to the finer details while writing, and also has first-hand experience in boxing. He has a total experience of 5 years, and has worked for the International Business Times.

Karl turned into an MMA fan back in 2011 after watching Tito Ortiz defeat Ryan Bader via first-round submission at UFC 132. He has interviewed ONE world champions like Eduard Folayang, Joshua Pacio, Stamp Fairtex, and Tawanchai in his career so far.

On the non-MMA side of things, he interviewed WWE superstar Matt Riddle in 2021 and his question about Roman Reigns elicited an interesting answer which was widely covered by outlets like Sportskeeda and Cultaholic Wrestling's YouTube channel. He has also interviewed NBA stars Dwight Howard, Nick Young, Andre Roberson, Shabazz Muhammad, Jason Williams and Brian Scalabrine plus Filipino women's volleyball star Alyssa Valdez.

Karl ensures to double-check facts before using them in articles, and reads up on potential topics for pieces a day before. In his off time, he likes to play video games, and keep up with basketball and pro wrestling.

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Edited by Anurag Mitra