“Making the Change” – Tye Ruotolo Drops Huge Hint on Next Step in ONE Championship

Tye Ruotolo may just be hours away from his middleweight submission grappling showdown against Reiner ‘The Dutch Knight’ De Ridder at ONE Fight Night 10: Johnson vs. Moraes III, but the American superstar is already sizing up his next move in ONE Championship. Speaking at the ONE Fight Night 10 Press Conference at the Paramount Theatre in Denver, Colorado, earlier today, the Atos representative shared that he has plans to transition to MMA early next year.

However, the twin brother of ONE Lightweight Submission Grappling World Champion Kade said that his priority right now is to find a way to get the best of ‘The Dutch Knight’ at ONE’s on-ground debut event on American soil.

Tye Ruotolo names the next two fights in his list

Ruotolo said, “Well, I have to get through Reinier first. Maybe we can do a combat Jiu-Jitsu match after to even it out. But I’m looking to do MMA as soon as possible. Gotta get past Reinier first, and yeah, I’ll be making the change in early 2024 no matter what.”

Ruotolo has already teased the possibility of making the switch in the past. But now he’s provided fans a clearer timeline on when they can expect him to lace up the 4-oz gloves for the first time in his professional career. But the youngster added that fans would likely see him go toe-to-toe with a couple more names before he steps into the Circle for an MMA bout.

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He said, “I have a few guys I’d like to beat in Jiu-Jitsu. I have my mind set. I got to take those guys out before I make the change completely, that being Meregali and most likely the final boss, Gordon [Ryan]. Those are my two on the list.”

Tye Ruotolo will look to stay undefeated ramping up another win in his next bout

The 20-year-old has already earned two sizable wins throughout his tenure at the Singapore-based promotion, and he hopes to go 3-0 in submission grappling against another tricky grappling-based MMA star on the grandest stage of them all. The Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt debuted with a first-round submission win over Garry ‘The Lion Killer’ Tonon at ONE 157 in May last year, needing only 97 seconds to draw a tap from the grappling expert.

In his sophomore outing, he finished former ONE Featherweight MMA World Champion Marat ‘Cobra’ Gafurov with a nasty armbar at 5:09 of the single-round battle.

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De Ridder will likely provide a similar test to the submission-hunting American at 1stBank Center in Denver, Colorado. But the latter is more than ready to ride wherever the Breda native takes him.