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ONE welterweight submission grappling world champion Tye Ruotolo made it a winning return from injury in his most recent match. He, however, admitted it did not come easy as he had to deal with "ring rust" on fight night.
The 22-year-old Atos standout successfully defended his world title at ONE Fight Night 31: Kongthoranee vs. Nong-O II on Prime Video on May 2 at the Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand. He defeated Dante Leon of Canada by unanimous decision.
It came nine months after Ruotolo injured his knee that sidelined him for much of 2024 and into the new year. Speaking to ONE Championship following his victory, the welterweight king shared what went down in his showdown against Leon, saying:
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"I felt like I had a little bit of ‘ring rust’ I had to shake off. But I definitely feel like I got a dominant win, so I was happy with that at least."
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At ONE Fight Night 31, Tye Ruotolo was the aggressor throughout the 10-minute title match. Leon put up tough defense, but the American champion was not to be denied of the convincing decision victory.
The win was the second successful defense of Ruotolo of the world title he won in November 2023. He defeated Australian challenger Izaak Michell by submission in his first defense in April last year.
The full replay of ONE Fight Night 31 is available on demand for Prime Video subscribers in the United States and Canada.
Tye Ruotolo open to all-comers for his world title following win at ONE Fight Night 31
Tye Ruotolo said he is looking forward defending the ONE welterweight submission grappling world title against all-comers following his victory at ONE Fight Night 31.
He actually made this known even before he took on Dante Leon in his title defense last week, relaying how it does not matter who his next challenger will be.
Ruotolo told JitsMagazine in an interview:
"Yeah, absolutely. For sure. Always game to fight anyone no matter who it is, just as long as it really makes sense for the people and for everyone involved..."
Apart from successfully defending the welterweight submission grappling gold, the win at ONE Fight Night 31 extended his undefeated run in ONE Championship to eight straight matches.
