“They don't really go hand in hand” - Dante Leon admits Tye Ruotolo’s unorthodox patterns are challenging to prepare for

ONE welterweight submission grappling world champion Tye Ruotolo is hard to beat because he's hard to figure out. At least, challenger Dante Leon thinks so.

Ahead of their upcoming title clash at ONE Fight Night 31, Leon has been trying to make sense of the champ's unique mix of technique, pressure, and unpredictability.

Speaking to ONE Championship, Leon says that what makes Ruotolo so tricky is that his style doesn't follow the usual formulas:

"And then on top of it, he has D’arce and buggies," Leon said. "So it's something that's not – they don't really go hand in hand. Usually, you see people who would attack submissions like that, they're the not-so-athletic type."

Dante Leon admits it has been a task to source sparring partners similar to Tye Ruotolo: “It's hard”

With Tye Ruotolo's near-impossible mix of elite athleticism and wild unpredictability, trying to simulate him in training has been its own puzzle. According to Leon, finding one person who can mimic all of the champ's attributes has been impossible.

"You kinda have to piece it together," he explained. "When you think about somebody like Tye, it's hard to find somebody who has that. You could find somebody who has really good D’Arces, but then they're usually gonna be a tall, lanky kind of grappler, and that's not really what Tye is, even though he is taller in length here."

"He's not necessarily a huge guy. He has pretty long arms. He has quite a wingspan on him, but he's very athletic. He's very strong. He's very explosive."

As a result,Tye Ruotolo has been a nightmare to prepare for - but for Dante Leon, it's part of the challenge. He's already scored a win once. Another one would get him gold.

ONE Fight Night 31 takes place on May 2 at 9 PM ET. Stream it live on Prime Video with an active subscription.