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Izaak Michell is excited to face Tye Ruotolo after discussing a potential matchup for several months.
In Nov. 2023, Ruotolo added to his impressive resume by securing a unanimous decision win against Magomed Abdulkadirov to become the inaugural ONE welterweight submission grappling world champion. Six months later, the 21-year-old will defend his throne for the first time.
Later this week, April 5, Ruotolo returns for his sixth submission grappling match under the ONE banner. This time, the American superstar could face arguably his toughest promotional test thus far when he meets debutant Izaak Michell in the ONE Fight Night 21 co-main event.
During an interview with CountFilms TV, the highly-touted Michell had this to say about challenger Ruotolo for his world title:
"It was a great opportunity. The match was talked about six months ago, maybe longer. We knew we were going against each other at some point like both being in the same division for ADCC, that was a potential matchup. Shortly afterwards we talked about a matchup with each other but it didn't happen until today. I'm excited for it, there's a lot of anticipation for it. Everybody is excited for this fight."
ONE Fight Night 21, which goes down inside the iconic Lumpinee Boxing Stadium, can be seen live and for free by North American viewers with an active Amazon Prime Video subscription.
Watch Michell's entire interview below:
Who else is fighting at ONE Fight Night 21 besides Tye Ruotolo and Izaak Michell?
Tye Ruotolo vs. Izaak Michell won't be the only world title matchup taking place at ONE Fight Night 21. In the main event, Regian Eersel plans to defend his ONE lightweight kickboxing world title. Standing in his way is promotional newcomer Alexis Nicolas, who holds a lifetime kickboxing record of 23-0.
Meanwhile, Friday's event also features a must-see grappling match between Kade Ruotolo and Francisco Lo, Suablack vs Vladimir Kuzmin in Muay Thai, the return of heavyweight MMA fighter Ben Tynan, and more.
Check out the OFN 21 fight card below:
