Look back at Tye Ruotolo’s dominant win over Lucas Valente at the IBJJF Worlds

ONE Championship grappling phenom Tye Ruotolo made an excellent showing at the promotion's first-ever on-ground US live show, ONE Fight Night 10. The 20-year-old BJJ black belt took the fight to ONE middleweight world champion Reinier de Ridder in a 10-minute submission grappling match. After the final bell rang, Tye Ruotolo was declared the winner via unanimous decision.

Less than a month before the May 5 match with de Ridder, Tye Ruotolo became a part of jiu-jitsu history by being named the youngest IBJJF world champion ever. To the uninitiated, IBJJF is the world's leading Brazilian jiu-jitsu organization that conducts yearly tournaments to find out who is the best in the sport. Think of it as the Super Bowl of Brazilian Jiujitsu.

Last year, Tye finished second in his division. However, that year's gold medalist, Mica Galvao, got suspended for PEDs, unfortunately. He was subsequently stripped off his world title which automatically promoted Ruotolo to the gold medal.

Ahead of the 2023 IBJJF World Championships, the organization posted Ruotolo's semi-finals bout against Lucas Valente which allowed him to advance to the finals. It was, ultimately, the match that got Tye Ruotolo a spot in jiu-jitsu history.

Here's the bout highlights as posted on Instagram:

"Tye Ruotolo vs Lucas Valente at the 2022 Worlds. A very nice and fast paced match that put Tye into the Lightweight weight final. Will we see the young Ruotolo back in action at the Worlds this year? There’s only 5 days left to register, I guess we will find out soon. Be sure to watch all matches live on @flograppling Visit ibjjf.com to sign up today."

It was indeed an exciting match and showcased Ruotolo's amazing wizardry in jiu-jitsu Gi, something we don't see in ONE Championship. Perhaps conducting matching in the Gi would be something ONE can explore in the future.

If you want to know how to watch Ruotolo's historic bout against Valente last year, you can check the details in the post's caption. If you want to see his bout with Renier de Ridder, the ONE Fight Night 10 replay can be replayed for free via Amazon Prime Video in North America.