ONE Championship: Ruotolo Brothers Are Ready to Jump Ship to MMA Against Their ONE 157 Opponents – “That’d Be an Amazing First Match”

Tye and Kade Ruotolo brothers were given two tough assignments in their ONE Championship debuts at ONE 157: Petchmorakot vs. Vienot last Friday, 20 May, at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.

The teen grappling phenoms were in submission grappling action, with Kade taking on Japanese martial arts legend Shinya “Tobikan Judan” Aoki and Tye, facing off with American submission specialist Garry “The Lion Killer” Tonon.

In a perfect start to their ONE tenures, both brothers scored a thumping victory against their seasoned opponents.

Kade was first to step into the Circle. The 19-year-old put in a dominant display against Aoki, pushing the former ONE Lightweight World Champion through a variety of positions on the canvas to take home a decision win.

He had a mature and experienced game plan and took the match to the Japanese fighter – who has 30 submission wins in MMA – from the start.

Though the American star felt that he could have closed the contest within the 10-minute timeframe, he was pleased with his output.

“That was a huge, huge win for me. Shinya is a very tough opponent, one of the best jiu-jitsu practitioners to ever do it in the MMA scene and jiu-jitsu scene,” he said.

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“I thought for sure I was going to get the submission. I guess that is why I’m a bit disappointed at the moment. But at the same time, there were a couple of cool moments in the match.”

Tye coupled his twin brother’s triumph in the bout that followed – albeit in a slicker fashion.

Tye Ruotolo created ONE Championship history against the veteran Garry Tonon

The California native got the job done against Tonon in just 97 seconds, scoring the fastest finish in ONE’s submission grappling history in the process.

The Atos representative secured top position after an early takedown attempt before passing his rival’s guard and swiftly locking in his signature D’Arce choke to take home the win – and a US$50,000 performance bonus.

“I don’t think it could have gone any better. Garry’s a legend in the sport. So, to get the D’Arce over him in that amount of time, I’m super, super, super stoked. Over the moon for sure,” he said, following the bout.

“Garry’s known as the escape artist. So, he’s definitely got a bunch of different exit routes from different positions. So, I was definitely just stoked to be able to see that opportunity, catch it, and finish it.”

Friday night’s victories will surely help bolster the twins’ confidence ahead of the ADCC World Championship. And once they have that tournament taken care of, both admit that they would like to give mixed martial arts a shot.

“If he’s up for it, I’d love to [rematch Shinya in MMA]. That’d be an amazing first match for me to step foot in the MMA scene,” Kade offered.

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Tye echoed his brother with similar sentiments.

“I think it would be really cool to have the opportunity to fight Garry in MMA. I think after my performance tonight, I, kind of, deserve it,” he said.