Dante Leon ONE Fight Night 31: "Scrap for the strap" - Dante Leon fully geared up for huge world title challenge against Tye Ruotolo in Bangkok

Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ) powerhouse Dante Leon recognizes he is on the cusp of potentially earning the greatest achievement of his storied career in the co-main event of ONE Fight Night 31 on Friday, May 2. The event will take place inside the Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.

There, the two-time IBJJF No-Gi World Championships gold medalist will have an opportunity to become a ONE world champion by dethroning ONE welterweight submission grappling world champion Tye Ruotolo.

Mere days before their hotly anticipated world title bout, Leon looked back on his journey en route to fighting for the gold in just his third bout under the ONE banner in an Instagram video.

The caption of his post read:

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"2 days out. Scrap for the strap 🫡"

Check out the entire video below:

As Leon mentioned, he has quite a history with one-half of the famed Ruotolo twins. Leon earned the first win in their head-to-head series back in March 2020 via referee's decision at Grapplefest 8. Ruotolo returned the favor by submitting Leon in the semifinals of the 84kg division of Who's Number One in September 2021.

Dante Leon excited to settle the score with Tye Ruotolo

Dante Leon opened up on the gravity of his trilogy bout with Tye Ruotolo at ONE Fight Night 31 in an interview with the promotion.

He said:

"It's the biggest match in the world right now, to be honest. Maybe I'm biased to myself, but when you talk about a match that has history, you talk about a match that has excitement, that has titles, that has accolades, that has prestige, that has, in my opinion, the most respected World Title Belt attached to it going to the winner."

ONE Fight Night 31 will be available live and free to all Prime Video subscribers in the United States and Canada.

About the author

Karl has been an MMA writer at Sportskeeda since 2023. He holds a Bachelor of Arts major in history, which helps him pay attention to the finer details while writing, and also has first-hand experience in boxing. He has a total experience of 5 years, and has worked for the International Business Times.

Karl turned into an MMA fan back in 2011 after watching Tito Ortiz defeat Ryan Bader via first-round submission at UFC 132. He has interviewed ONE world champions like Eduard Folayang, Joshua Pacio, Stamp Fairtex, and Tawanchai in his career so far.

On the non-MMA side of things, he interviewed WWE superstar Matt Riddle in 2021 and his question about Roman Reigns elicited an interesting answer which was widely covered by outlets like Sportskeeda and Cultaholic Wrestling's YouTube channel. He has also interviewed NBA stars Dwight Howard, Nick Young, Andre Roberson, Shabazz Muhammad, Jason Williams and Brian Scalabrine plus Filipino women's volleyball star Alyssa Valdez.

Karl ensures to double-check facts before using them in articles, and reads up on potential topics for pieces a day before. In his off time, he likes to play video games, and keep up with basketball and pro wrestling.

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Edited by Harvey Leonard