“I'll surprise you guys” - Tye Ruotolo says his striking has come a long way in preparation for MMA debut

Tye Ruotolo’s been working on his striking for a while now. Quietly, steadily, behind the scenes—getting in the rounds while most fans still think of him as just a grappler.

He knows people will be curious when he finally makes his MMA debut. And he’s fine with that. In fact, he’s hoping to catch a few off guard.

After successfully defending his belt at ONE Fight Night 31 this weekend, the reigning ONE welterweight submission grappling world champion spoke about his inevitable foray into MMA:

"But I know that watching my brother fight his last few matches, it's pretty obvious that his striking is up there," he said. "It's not better than the guys he was going against, you know. And I like to think that my striking is at the same level. So we're going to see, hopefully, I'll surprise you guys."

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“Doing them both simultaneously” - Tye Ruotolo promises to remain active in grappling once he makes his MMA debut

To make things clear, it isn't about choosing between grappling and MMA. Tye Ruotolo is planning to keep both in the mix, even if it means juggling a bit more than most fighters would dare to.

"And for MMA, I love it just as much almost," he said. "It's a new passion, but I'm having so much love and there's just a lot of excitement in that for me right now, too. So, definitely going to have to be doing them both simultaneously. And I know it's going to be difficult, but my brother and I are going to do it together, and we're going to make it happen."

At the moment, Tye Ruotolo is freshly off a successful world title defense against long-time rival Dante Leon at ONE Fight Night 31. Watch the replay on Prime Video with an active subscription in North America.