“It makes me mad” - Tye Ruotolo hyped up to defend welterweight submission grappling gold against Izaak Michell in Bangkok

Reigning ONE welterweight submission grappling world champion Tye Ruotolo expects his next opponent to bring out the beast lurking inside of him.

This Friday night, April 5, Ruotolo returns to the iconic Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok for a loaded ONE Fight Night 21 card on Amazon Prime Video. There, the BJJ superstars will square off with promotional newcomer Izaak Michell.

Speaking with CountFilms ahead of his highly anticipated return, Ruotolo shared his excitement about the opportunity to compete against an opponent as aggressive as himself.

"I was telling Mitch [Chilson] earlier I'm excited to fight someone who is going to come fight me, you know. I know he's very aggressive and anytime that someone is that aggressive, it makes me mad."

"Sometimes, I fight, I win, but I don't feel like I get to pull out that inner kind of beast and I know Izaak's going to pull that out for me. It's going to be a gnarly one."

As for how he plans to walk away with his 26 pounds of gold intact, Tye Ruotolo plans to keep it simple.

"With better wrestling," Ruotolo said with a smile. "That's it. Takedown, pass, submit."

---

Izaak Michell is ready to add another world title to his trophy case when he meets Tye Ruotolo

Training alongside BJJ icons John Danaher and Craig Jones, Izaak Michell grappled his way to the No. 2 ranking in the 185-pound no-gi division, according to FloGrappling. Along the way, the Aussie has earned a slew of accomplishments, none bigger than his gold medal-winning performance at the 2021 IBJJF World Championships as a brown belt.

Michell also took first place at the ADCC Asia & Oceania Trials and the Who’s Next Tournament in 2022.

According to BJJHeroes.com, Michell has 18 wins to his credit against just two losses. Even more impressive is the fact that he finished 12 of his opponents via submission for a solid 67% finish rate.

He'll look to bump that number up a bit and take his first ONE world title against Tye Ruotolo this Friday night.

ONE Championship fans in North America can watch ONE Fight Night 21 live and for free via Amazon Prime Video in U.S. primetime on April 5.