Tye Ruotolo all praise for Marat Gafurov after submitting him at ONE on Prime Video 5

American grappling phenom Tye Ruotolo was impressively able to stop Russia's 'Cobra' Marat Gafurov via submission at ONE on Prime Video 5. As the fight wrapped up, Ruotolo immediately showed respect to his opponent.

In his ONE on Prime Video 5 post-fight press conference, Tye Ruotolo shared his thoughts about his opponent Gafurov:

"A lot of respect to Marat for accepting the match even. I'm in pretty much in my prime right now. I still got, I feel like a couple more years even to be in my prime. And he's, I don't want to say he's older, that's kind of disrespectful. But he's been around a long time"

At just the age of 19, Tye Ruotolo is a grappling prodigy who is one of the best Brazilian jiu-jitsu athletes on the planet today. It took a lot of bravery for the Russian Gafurov to step in the Circle against him. Tye continued:

"And he also met at a catchweight on top of that, right? So, you know, he's an absolute beast, and I got a lot of respect for the guy. So I hope to see him again in ONE smashing it."

See the full press conference below:

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Tye Ruotolo earns more post-fight bonuses

The American athlete Tye Ruotolo was able to impress combat sports fans when he submitted Marat Gafurov with an armbar submission at ONE on Prime Video 5. Earlier this year, Ruotolo submitted grappling great Garry Tonon in just a minute and thirty-seven seconds.

For both of his submission victories in ONE Championship, Tye walked away with a lofty $50,000 performance bonus. For 2022, in just bonuses, the grappling phenom has earned $100,000. An impressive sum.

Tye and his brother Kade have explained that they are using their ONE Championship bonus money to construct a world-class gym. They are investing back into the martial arts community.

Earlier this year, Kade explained in a post-fight interview:

"We’re building a gym out in Costa Rica right now, and we’re kind of putting everything we’ve got into it and that literally just finished it. I’m at a loss for words, thank you so much Chatri [Sityodtong] and everyone behind ONE. I’m so stoked, I’m so stoked, beyond thankful."