ONE Championship: Tye Ruotolo’s rapid rise to MMA gold – ‘The Lees were in my way’

Tye Ruotolo went over to offer his commiserations to the Lee corner after winning ONE Championship’s lightweight MMA title. Christian Lee’s father Ken and younger brother Adrian stood almost in shock, silent and solemn. 

Three fights into his MMA career, Ruotolo had now submitted both brothers. The younger Lee had been his introduction to the sport; the elder had just lost his belt.

The 23-year-old finished Christian with a rear-naked choke at two minutes and eight seconds of the opening round in Friday’s Inner Circle 37 main event at Bangkok’s Lumpinee Stadium.

“It’s all respect for the Lee family,” Ruotolo told the Bangkok Post afterwards.

“When I started my MMA career I wanted to be the champion. The Lees were in my way. But there was no rivalry.”

Tye Ruotolo offers his respects to the Lee corner after dethroning Christian Lee at The Inner Circle 37 in Bangkok

Now 28, Christian had first won the lightweight title in 2019. By late 2022, he and his now-retired sister Angela held three ONE belts between them, giving their family a place at the centre of the promotion’s MMA story.

Ruotolo was careful about what that meant.

“The Lees are nowhere near finished but the Ruotolos are underway, that’s for sure,” he said.

For all his confidence, he had thought about the size of the opportunity before facing Christian.

“There was a lot to think about prior, like, ‘Do I deserve the match? Am I ready for it?’ All that stuff, for my third MMA fight,” he said.

Lee had supplied his own assessment, predicting a second-round submission and arguing that the challenger lacked his depth in MMA grappling. The confidence carried into the final introductions, when he fixed Ruotolo with a hard stare as ring announcer Dom Lau read out their names.

Tye Ruotolo (left) and Christian Lee stare across the ring before their lightweight MMA title fight at Lumpinee Stadium

Ruotolo read the encounter differently.

“He broke the eye contact first a couple times. I knew I had him right there,” he said.

Once the fight started, the talking continued. That surprised Ruotolo, who had expected them to get straight to work.

“He started talking and it kind of threw me off a little bit,” he said. “I was like, ‘What are we doing here?’”

Lee’s repeated taunts of “yeah boy” and “let’s do this boy” drew replies from the challenger, who recalled landing a jab and asking: “You like that? Here comes another.”

“There was definitely more talking than I thought. Took me a second to get back to my game,” Ruotolo said.

“I think Christian was trying to make me emotional.”

The opening that decided the fight came on the feet. Ruotolo clipped Lee with a right hook, dropped him with a left and followed him to the canvas. Lee gave up his back while trying to escape, and Ruotolo secured the choke.

Tye Ruotolo (right) lands a punch on Christian Lee during their lightweight MMA title fight at The Inner Circle 37

Before the fight, Ruotolo had rated Lee’s grappling at five or six out of 10 in an interview with MMA Fighting, while suggesting he and his brother could be given 10s.

“Yeah, I mean, that sounds so cocky, but in the most humble way possible it’s realistic,” he said afterwards.

“I know Christian is an amazing MMA competitor, has been a champion in ONE forever, but he doesn’t have the same jiu jitsu I have.”

Not too long ago, the punch that dropped a longstanding MMA champion had been one Ruotolo thought had little power.

“I gotta watch it back again. I just remember throwing my left and him dropping,” he said.

“What’s funny is a year ago that punch of mine sucked.”

He had kept working on it. He had also come to believe his striking would hold up against Lee, even if he had kept that opinion largely to himself before the fight.

Tye Ruotolo submits Christian Lee with a rear-naked choke in the first round to claim ONE Championship’s lightweight MMA title

“Didn’t want to talk about it before the fight but didn’t think he would outstrike me,” he said. “I thought my striking would be better, not even arrogantly. I truly thought my striking was better. I proved it, I showed it.”

Ruotolo credited kickboxer Alexis Nicolas – ONE’s former lightweight champ – with helping him prepare in camp.

“When you go with someone like that and you see things coming at you a million miles per hour, it makes a fight like today feel slow,” he said.

There had also been a reason to want the finish quickly. Ruotolo said he had felt unwell all week and had been bluffing when asked whether he was ready for five rounds.

“I said to my corner, ‘I don’t want this to go more than a round, two max.’ So I’m super stoked.”

The other Ruotolo had helped him get there. Kade began his MMA career first, winning his opening three fights by submission, and Tye had expected his twin to receive the first title opportunity.

Tye Ruotolo submits Christian Lee with a rear-naked choke in the first round to claim ONE Championship’s lightweight MMA title

For this camp, Kade had poured time and effort into his brother’s preparation. The pair already held ONE’s lightweight and welterweight submission grappling titles; Tye has now become the promotion’s first champion in both grappling and MMA.

“We’ve built each other to this point,” Tye said. “Iron sharpens iron but nothing sharpens you like a twin brother.”

The new champion is 3-0 in MMA and earned a US$100,000 bonus for Friday’s finish. His immediate ambition is to stay active, whether defending his grappling belt or taking another MMA fight.

“I wanted to get to the top as fast as I could,” he said. “Now we gotta stay here.”