Tye Ruotolo remain undefeated in ONE Championship at ONE Fight Night 13, and he could soon find himself competing for gold. The American grappling prodigy took another submission victory this past Friday, August 4, forcing #2-ranked lightweight mixed martial arts contender Dagi Arslanaliev to tap to a rear-naked choke. 

It was the 20-year-old’s fourth straight win in the promotion and his third submission win. This latest success felt like more than one win for Ruotolo though, as he said it felt like his opponent tapped out twice.

Tye Ruotolo’s grappling prowess proved to be too much for Dagi Arslanaliev

“I caught him with the outside heel, and I felt a tap on my back. But it was a little iffy, so I just kept going, got the choke, so stoked to get two chokes in one match,” he told Mitch Chilson during his after-fight interview. Arslanaliev was trapped under Ruotolo, and he appeared to slap his opponent, which led the latter to ease off on the hold, thinking it was a tap. However, the Turkish fighter expressed he wasn’t done yet, so the match continued. 

The Atos representative then jumped to take his opponent’s back, slapping a rear-naked choke that led to the finish. The impressive win gave Ruotolo another US$50,000 bonus, and he later shared his motivation for taking such an aggressive approach to the bout. 

“As long as we keep going with a submission like that, I feel like we can elevate the sport,” he said. “We’re here at Lumpinee Stadium. I know that jiu-jitsu is not the biggest here in Thailand, a lot of these fans want to see violence, so I didn’t mind that. I wanted to bring the sub, stoked to get it, and it’s just an honor to be here. I always wanted to compete here since I saw my brother and get to check that off the bucket list.”  

READ MORE – Chatri Sityodtong Wants to Continue the Success of ONE Championship in the West With 4 United States Events in 2024.

Now that he has cemented his place amongst the submission grappling ranks, questions about his future are looming, especially since he and his brother Kade have been openly considering transitioning to MMA.

Tye Ruotolo names a couple of preferred opponents, but he is ready for everyone

It appears that Ruotolo has gold in mind and more grappling competitions in his future before he begins to focus on dipping his toe into a different sport. “Whatever ONE’s plans are for me, I’m ready to fulfill them. If they want to do a 185 [pound] division, I would love to take that. Eventually, I was thinking I’d just have to go down to 170, get the belt from my brother, but right now, let’s do 185. That would be amazing – fight guys around my same size and keep doing jits. MMA in the near future too, for sure,” Ruotolo said. 

READ MORE – ONE Fight Night 14 Is All Stacked Up With the Addition of Two World Title Fights Featuring Danielle Kelly and a Special-Rules Bout

As they closed the in-ring interview, Chilson revealed that Ruotolo will be getting a shot at a World Title at 185-pounds. No date or opponent has been named yet, but the California native has a couple of names in mind if ONE is looking for ideas. 

“I’m ready for anyone at 185. Anyone in the world. I had a couple people calling me out – Pedro Marinho, Isaac Mitchell – those are two tough guys at the top of the sport right now, and I want to fight them both. Whoever wants it, 185, let’s go,” Ruotolo said.