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Kade Ruotolo has been forced out of his ONE Championship main event against Ok Rae Yoon next month through injury, the Bangkok Post has learned.
The lightweight submission grappling champion had been due to face the former lightweight MMA title-holder at ONE Fight Night 50 at Bangkok’s Lumpinee Stadium on December 19.
The nature of the injury has not been disclosed. There is no news yet on a replacement main event, with the card scheduled to air on December 18 in US primetime.
It is another interruption to Ruotolo’s pursuit of MMA gold, just as his twin brother Tye has become the first member of the family to win a ONE title in the sport.
Tye submitted Christian Lee in the first round at The Inner Circle 37 on Friday to claim the lightweight MMA belt in only his third professional appearance, adding it to his welterweight submission grappling title.
Kade Ruotolo (left) lands a right hand on Hiroyuki Tetsuka at The Inner Circle 14 in Bangkok in May
Kade, 23, had initially set the pace in the brothers’ transition to MMA. He submitted Blake Cooper, Ahmed Mujtaba and Nicolas Vigna in the first round between June 2024 and February 2025.
Before Friday’s title fight, Tye told the Bangkok Post he had expected Kade to get the first shot at MMA gold. Tye had submitted Christian’s younger brother Adrian on his MMA debut last year.
“Me fighting Adrian I think had a lot to do with the plot and me getting this opportunity,” Tye said.
Speaking after his victory over Christian, the new champion credited Kade with helping him prepare for the biggest fight of his MMA career.
Kade Ruotolo (right) embraces twin brother Tye after Tye’s first-round submission win over Christian Lee
“He’s become so supportive through this whole process of getting the two belts. I appreciate all the effort and time he’s put into me,” Tye told the Bangkok Post.
“Nothing would be possible without that guy. We’ve built each other to this point.”
Tye also raised several possibilities for Kade’s MMA future, including staying at lightweight, moving up to welterweight or potentially dropping to featherweight.
Injuries have repeatedly interrupted Kade’s progress since his third MMA win. Days after submitting Vigna at ONE 171 in February 2025, he suffered a full ACL tear during a training scramble and spent more than a year out of competition.
His return in May brought a second-round stoppage of Hiroyuki Tetsuka at The Inner Circle 14, extending his MMA record to 4-0 with four finishes.
Kade Ruotolo has his hand raised after stopping Hiroyuki Tetsuka in the second round of their MMA bout in Bangkok
But a broken hand suffered during the finishing sequence of that victory forced him out of a scheduled lightweight submission grappling title defence against Fabricio Andrey at ONE Fight Night 44 in June.
The meeting with Ok offered Ruotolo a chance to strengthen his MMA title credentials against the former champion who beat Christian Lee in 2021 before losing the belt back to him the following year.
The remaining announced bouts at ONE Fight Night 50 include Diogo Reis’s first defence of the flyweight submission grappling title against Bebeto Oliveira.
Kade Ruotolo applauds in the background as Tye celebrates winning the lightweight MMA title at Lumpinee Stadium
Maurice Abevi is scheduled to face Dzhabir Dzhabrailov in welterweight MMA, while Suablack Tor Pran49 meets Jordan Estupinan in flyweight Muay Thai and Bampara Kouyate takes on Ricardo Bravo at featherweight.
Selina Flores is also due to face Kana Morimoto in an atomweight contest that will mark the Japanese kickboxer’s Muay Thai debut.
