Tye Ruotolo remained undefeated in his ONE Championship tenure last weekend, and the possibilities for where he goes next are almost endless. At ONE Fight Night 23 on Friday, July 6, the ONE Welterweight Submission Grappling World Champion defeated teen grappling phenom Jozef Chen in a catchweight bout inside Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand. 

With the win, Ruotolo is now 7-0 in the world’s largest martial arts organization, and he has showcased his dominant Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu game with each performance. The American star has many options for where his career goes next, and we thought we’d break down a few paths he may take.

Much-Anticipated MMA Debut

Tye’s twin brother, ONE Lightweight Submission Grappling World Champion Kade, finally made the transition to the all-encompassing sport of mixed martial arts at ONE 167 last month, and he quickly found success by submitting Blake Cooper in the first round of their battle.

Tye was cornering his brother that evening, and he has since expressed his desire to dip his toe in the MMA pool. The Atos representative believes it is a natural progression for his career, given that he has proved himself to such a substantial degree in submission grappling. 

Right now, it’s purely hypothetical to discuss him in MMA. But it would be fascinating to see if Tye could translate his skill set to the sport like his brother did so seamlessly.

Grappling Match With Nicholas Meregali

Following his latest win, Ruotolo called out Brazilian grappler Nicholas Meregali as his next target. Meregali, a multiple-time BJJ World Champion, was responsible for ending Ruotolo’s brilliant run in the absolute division of the 2022 ADCC tournament. He clearly wants to get redemption, and ONE Championship would be the ideal place for a rematch.

The pair are slated to compete at separate tournaments in the coming months. But with ONE’s submission grappling ranks growing by the day, there is every chance that Meregali could join at some point and put the two stars on a collision course once again. 

Superfight With Kade Ruotolo

The Ruotolo twins have been grappling with each other their whole lives, and they have helped hone their respective skill sets, which makes the fact they’re now both world-class ground specialists somewhat unsurprising.

The brothers have always aimed to test themselves against the best, but what happens when the crowd at the top of the food chain is thinning out and the list of competitors to defeat is getting smaller?

Though unlikely anytime soon, there may come a day when Tye and Kade decide they want to find out who the better Ruotolo is in ONE Championship. 

The twins have many options for opponents ahead of them, especially if they both move into MMA. But with each holding an undefeated record and a submission grappling crown in ONE, a “final boss” super-fight between them could make sense down the line.