ONE Fight Night 31: “Put more muscle on these legs” - Tye Ruotolo says strength and conditioning was a big focus in training camp for Dante Leon

Reigning and undisputed ONE welterweight submission grappling world champion Tye Ruotolo of the United States wants to come into his next world title defense at his best possible condition.

The 22-year-old Atos Jiu-jitsu representative is getting ready to defend his coveted gold against Canadian submission grappler Dante Leon in a highly anticipated trilogy match this weekend.

Speaking to ONE Championship, Ruotolo talked about adding more muscle to his frame to beef up for the Leon trilogy.

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He told the world's largest martial arts organization:

"Just doing all the sports that I love, but just at a lighter level. I started to do more lifting, got in the gym more than I usually do, too. Just been trying to put more muscle on these legs and straighten this knee up."

ONE welterweight submission grappling world champion Tye Ruotolo will put his gold on the line against Dante Leon.

Ruotolo and Leon lock horns in the co-main event at ONE Fight Night 31: Kongthoranee vs. Nong-O II on Prime Video, which is set to broadcast live in U.S. primetime from the iconic Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand, this Friday, May 2.

Fans in the United States and Canada can watch all the action live, absolutely free, with an active Amazon Prime Video subscription.

Tye Ruotolo plans surprise attack for Canadian rival Dante Leon at ONE Fight Night 31 on Prime Video: "Just trying to come up with some new stuff"

Welterweight submission grappling king Tye Ruotolo wants to show Canadian submission grappling star Dante Leon some new looks when they meet for a third time at ONE Fight Night 31 on Prime Video.

Ruotolo has been working on some new moves, and wants to showcase them on fight night.

He told ONE:

"I was doing a little bit of research for sure and just a lot of drilling. Just trying to come up with some new stuff, some new entries. And, yeah, I'm excited to start exercising them for sure."

Stay tuned to Sportskeeda MMA for all the latest news and updates surrounding Tye Ruotolo's next fight.

About the author

Dan is an MMA writer with 10+ years of overall experience. Before his ongoing tenure at Sportskeeda, Dan got the opportunity to be at the forefront of the sport by contributing to ONE Championship and Fight Game Asia. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology.

Dan’s connection to MMA started during the early days of the UFC and ONE Championship. He previously practiced boxing and ranks Demetrious Johnson, Anderson Silva, Georges St-Pierre, Jon Jones, and Fedor Emelianenko as the top five MMA fighters of all time.

He has covered several events onsite and on the ground for ONE Championship and hopes to continue doing so. He ensures that he churns out accurate articles by citing only legitimate sources and getting firsthand accounts through exclusive interviews whenever required.

Dan feels MMA fighter pay seems like an issue because it often gets compared to what fighters earn in boxing but that MMA will eventually catch up in the future.

His other interests include soccer and video games.

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Edited by C. Naik