Ruotolo On Fighting Taxi Cab Drivers In MMA

Grappling standout Tye Ruotolo challenges for the ONE Championship welterweight title Friday in Bangkok in only his third professional MMA fight, the exact trajectory he mapped out before crossing over from the mats.

Ruotolo told MMA Fighting he pushed ONE brass for tough assignments from the start, beginning with Christian Lee's younger brother Adrian in his debut last year. The 23-year-old Brazilian jiu-jitsu champion stopped both opponents by rear-naked choke and now faces two-division titleholder Christian Lee for the welterweights strap. "I always told Chatri [Sityodtong], I always told my brother that I don't want to have a million MMA matches," Ruotolo said. "I want to fight the best in the world. I don't want to fight people I know I can win. I don't want to fight the taxi cab drivers, you know?"

Ruotolo Embraces White Belt Feeling

The transition from submission grappling to MMA has forced Ruotolo to rebuild his skillset from scratch, learning striking and cage positioning after dominating IBJJF Worlds and the ONE grappling circuit. He admitted the process made him feel like a beginner again but said the challenge reignited his competitive fire. Watching Marcus Buchecha, Rodolfo Vieira, and Gilbert Burns make similar moves inspired the shift, and following twin brother Kade into MMA competition sealed the decision.

Ruotolo expects Lee to hunt an early knockout Friday, coming forward with heavy kicks and punches before the grappling exchanges tilt in his favor. He rated Lee's mat skills around a five or six on a ten-point scale, then joked that heavyweight Robelis Despaigne would anchor the low end while Gordon Ryan and the Ruotolo brothers sat at the top. Lee has been submitted once in MMA, a 2016 loss to Martin Nguyen, and Ruotolo predicted his own best path to victory runs through a finish on the ground.

With a win in Thailand, Ruotolo plans to defend both his MMA and grappling belts over the next six months, including a January ONE title defense on the jiu-jitsu side and an appearance at next year's Craig Jones Invitational. He said grappling had started to feel stale before the MMA move gave him new problems to solve. "I was almost getting a little bored with it," he said. "And the MMA stuff right now, I'm so fired up."

Photo by Brian J. Tromp on Unsplash

Original reporting:

• mmafighting.com — Grappling ace Tye Ruotolo only wants elite MMA competition: ‘I don’t want to fight the taxi cab drivers’ | MMA Fighting