ONE Championship: Dante Leon says he's been overlooked despite past win over Tye Ruotolo: "People have a very short memory"

Canadian Brazilian jiu-jitsu star Dante Leon is now fed up with the underwhelming treatment of fans of his resume as one of the top athletes in the sport, because, according to him, they act as if he were just a regular up-and-coming contender.

Dante Leon expressed this dismay during his pre-fight interview with Cageside Press ahead of his ONE welterweight submission grappling world title clash against Tye Ruotolo on May 2 at ONE Fight Night 31, as he stated:

"It took years for me to change the course of my career and get all these huge wins--even wins over Mikey [Mica Galvao], wins over all these different people--before people could be like, "Oh hey, you know, Dante has a chance against Tye." It's like, "Yeah, no kidding. I beat him before.""

The BJJ black belt also said that fans quickly forget someone's achievement, especially if another athlete emerges, as he added:

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"People have a very short memory in the fight game, especially fans. Somebody else comes along, or you drop a couple matches, and they kind of delete you from their memory a little bit."

Watch Dante Leon's interview here:

Dante Leon claims that his upcoming world title bout with Tye Ruotolo is the biggest match in submission grappling

With the history among them, the world title on the line, and showcasing their grappling prowess on the global stage, Leon proclaims that his impending battle with Tye Ruotolo in front of the Lumpinee Stadium crowd in Bangkok, Thailand, will be the biggest match in the sport today.

The Pedigo Submission Fighting representative reiterated this during his recent talk with ONE Championship:

"This is kind of the pinnacle of everything. If somebody says that another match out here is bigger than this match, it's really just opinion because as far as the evidence you're providing, this is as big as anything."

North American viewers with an active Prime Video subscription can watch all the action at ONE Fight Night 31 on May 2, which goes down inside the Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.

About the author

Anatoly is an MMA writer with six years of experience. He covers ONE Championship at Sportskeeda, where he has contributed over 1000 pieces. He previously served as the lead MMA writer for BetMGM’s blog.

Anatoly holds a bachelor's degree in communication, which he feels has had a significant impact on his career.

Jon Jones’ submission win over Lyoto Machida at UFC 140 in 2011 got him hooked to MMA. His favorite fighters include Eduard Folayang, Demetrious Johnson, Georges St-Pierre, Anderson Silva, and Khabib Nurmagomedov.

Anatoly provides Sportskeeda with exclusive pieces and has previously interviewed the former ONE flyweight MMA world champion, Adriano Moraes. While writing his pieces, he follows an extensive research process, referring only to credible sources like the UFC’s official website, Sherdog, and ESPN. He also likes to provide insights to his readers by keeping in mind important pillars of communication like media literacy and audience dynamics.

Anatoly advocates for a healthy and fit lifestyle by including boxing in his routine. He also loves to travel.

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Edited by Harvey Leonard