ONE Fight Night 31: "It was honestly kind of gnarly" - Tye Ruotolo details extent of knee damage ahead of ONE Fight Night 31 return

Brazilian jiu-jitsu megastar Tye Ruotolo was out for an extended amount of time due to a nasty leg injury he suffered in 2024, and in his recent interview with JitsMagazine, he revealed that it was the first time that he suffered such damage in his professional career.

According to Ruotolo, he tore several ligaments in his knee and needed an ample period to heal and recover completely before returning to action. He said:

"Yeah. So I ended up tearing just like the outside corner in my knee--a few different ligaments: the LCL, PCL, some collateral ligament, and then I think the bicep femoris. It was honestly kind of gnarly. It was the first time I had an injury of that level. So, it took me out for about six months."

Watch Tye Ruotolo's interview here:

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Now with the green light to compete, the reigning ONE welterweight submission grappling world champion is ready to fulfill his duty and defend his 26 pounds of gold against a familiar foe, Dante Leon, on May 2 for the co-headliner of ONE Fight Night 31 inside Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.

Tye Ruotolo says that he's pretty confident heading into trilogy match against Dante Leon

Because of his previous victory over him via submission in 2021, the Atos representative claims he's pretty confident of his chances of repeating against his rival, who represents Pedigo Submission Fighting.

The 22-year-old Tye Ruotolo mentioned this during his talk with JitsMagazine:

"Confidence, yeah, it's part of the mental heading into this one. It's important, plus I got the win against him last time out, too. So yeah, the confidence is there to beat Dante Leon and defend my gold."

North American viewers with an active Prime Video subscription can watch all the action at ONE Fight Night 31 on May, which will take place inside 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 Anurag Mitra