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Dante Leon believes he "dropped the ball a little bit" in his second grappling match against Tye Ruotolo.
Leon and Ruotolo first competed against each other at Grapplefest 8 in 2020. Leon won by decision, starting a rivalry between the world-class grapplers.
A year later, they competed in a second grappling match, this time at a Who's Number One event. Ruotolo avenged his previous defeat against Leon and made a statement by securing a guillotine finish.
While speaking to ONE, Leon had this to say about losing the rematch:
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"There's a big difference between getting behind or being behind a step and staying behind and staying behind a step. And that was a thing that I think I did. I think I dropped the ball a little bit in that last match that we had. I got behind."
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Dante Leon has since joined Tye Ruotolo by signing with ONE Championship. Ruotolo, the welterweight world champion, holds a promotional record of 7-0. Meanwhile, Leon has started his ONE tenure with consecutive wins.
Watch the second match between Ruotolo and Leon below:
Tye Ruotolo believes Dante Leon has wanted revenge for "a long time"
On Friday, May 2, Dante Leon has an opportunity in the ONE Fight Night 31 co-main event to dethrone Tye Ruotolo of his welterweight world title.
During an interview with ONE, Ruotolo had this to say about Leon potentially holding a grudge since their rematch in 2021:
"I remember, back at the Who's Number One championship, that was a really big competition. And I remember after I beat him, I could tell he was pretty pissed about it. I could tell he's been wanting to get this one back for a long time."
Tye Ruotolo and his twin brother, lightweight grappling champion Kade Ruotolo, have been unbeatable since joining ONE (13-0 combined record). At ONE Fight Night 31, Dante Leon plans to change the promotion's submission grappling landscape by taking out Tye and then pursuing a match against Kade.
ONE Fight Night 31 goes down inside the iconic Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand. Friday's event can be seen live and for free by North American and Canadian viewers with an active Amazon Prime Video subscription.
