“Yeah it was a weird one” - Tye Ruotolo recalls bizarre exchange with Dagi Arslanaliev during fight

Tye Ruotolo described an awkward interaction with Dagi Arslanaliev during their recent submission grappling match.

At ONE Fight Night 13, Ruotolo competed under the ONE Championship banner for the fourth time. The 20-year-old rising superstar was matched up against Arslanaliev, a lightweight MMA fighter with a promotional record of 8-2.

After less than three minutes of action, Ruotolo secured a rear-naked choke win to earn a $50,000 performance bonus from ONE Championship Chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong. During the ONE Fight Night 13 post-fight press conference, he reflected on the match-ending sequence by saying:

“Yeah it was a weird one. It was like he slapped my butt once pretty loud, I felt like that was a tap you know. And he looked at me as if we should keep going. So I jumped right back on him and I put him in a choke and I finished it so yeah…Got the choke and the bonus, yeah I’m super stoked I got it done.”

Tye Ruotolo made his ONE Championship debut in May 2022, defeating Garry Tonon with a D’Arce choke. Since then, Ruotolo has earned three more wins - an armbar against Marat Gafurov, a decision against Reinier de Ridder, and his latest win against Dagi Arslanaliev.

Ruotolo’s next ONE Championship appearance will be for the inaugural ONE welterweight submission grappling world title. It’s unclear who the 20-year-old will meet in the world championship bout, but they must be ready for a war.

Tye Ruotolo’s latest win at ONE Fight Night 13 can be seen for free by North American Prime Video subscribers.