ONE Championship star Tye Ruotolo is reaching unprecedented levels of success in his career. This recognition and acclaim have helped him achieve some personal goals. The Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu prodigy will be looking to claim the greatest accolade of his career when he meets Magomed Abdulkadirov.
This contest is for the inaugural ONE Welterweight Submission Grappling Championship in the co-main event of ONE Fight Night 16: Haggerty vs. Andrade. However, he had other things on his mind in a recent interview with ONE. Things that are perhaps bigger than any belt or any win.
A dream for Tye Ruotolo
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Tye and his brother, Kade, have been working on building a surfing and BJJ haven on the tropical island of Costa Rica for many years. The development of the project has witnessed a boost from the success they have both found in the world’s largest martial arts organization. This undoubtedly includes the four $50,000 performances the Californian twins have amassed so far.
“We’re building a spot where people can come train. We’re going to teach them how to surf. We’re going to do BJJ surf camps, just kind of come cruise in paradise for a week, up your Jiu-Jitsu game, and get to experience why we love it so much,” Ruotolo said.
“The gym is pretty much done. Our house that we’ve been trying to build for 17, 18 years is getting finished. We’re just being able to get our pool in. We even got an oven for our pizza, like the brick oven. Everything that we could possibly want and hope, our dreams are coming true.”
Ruotolo has advocated for his sport to be clean throughout his career. Moreover, he continues to promote that message while showing the world the impeccable techniques he has been perfecting for years. By competing on ONE’s global stage, the 20-year-old has helped put a spotlight on submission grappling through his exciting battles.
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The true motivation behind building their space
That remains a big-picture achievement for Ruotolo, but he says the dream behind the space he and his brother are developing in Costa Rica is a bit more personal to them. “Our main goal with what we’re doing over there is we’re building a spot where people can come. They can come train and experience really why we moved there in the first place and why we are trying to get our family there,” he said.
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Expect the 20-year-old grappling prodigy to be focused on capturing ONE gold when he competes inside the iconic Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand, next Friday, November 3. Ruotolo will certainly look to not only continue his pursuit of proving his philosophy on “clean” grappling and showcase the beauty of BJJ, but also to complete the finishing touches on their haven in the tropics.