Tye Ruotolo ready to make MMA debut against Adrian Lee: “He's going to be a super formidable opponent”

Reigning ONE welterweight submission grappling world champion Tye Ruotolo of the United States understands the caliber of the opponent that awaits him for his long-awaited transition to mixed martial arts.

Standing across the ring from him would be the undefeated Adrian Lee at ONE Fight Night 35 on Prime Video on Friday, Sept. 5, at Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.

Lee enters the bout with an unblemished professional record and a 100 percent finishing rate. All those victories have come by way of $50,000 bonus-winning submissions.

He also traces his lineage from a legendary MMA family, which includes his older siblings, two-division MMA world champion Christian Lee and former atomweight MMA world champion Angela Lee.

Speaking to Clocked N Loaded on YouTube, Tye Ruotolo expressed his respect for Lee's well-rounded skillset:

"I know for sure he's going to know MMA very well, you know. He's going to be a super formidable opponent, you know."

Check out the full interview:

Meanwhile, Tye Ruotolo also dominated ONE Championship's grappling division with an unblemished 8-0 record. He's coming off a successful world title defense against Dante Leon in May.

The 22-year-old is out to make a statement in MMA, and there’s no better way of doing so than halting Lee’s hype train.

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Tye Ruotolo explains why he wanted a tough opponent like Adrian Lee

Tye Ruotolo has never backed away from any challenge and seeks to test himself against the best of the best.

Rather than selecting an easier opponent to ease into mixed martial arts, Ruotolo deliberately chose one of the lightweight division's fastest-rising stars.

During the same interview with Clocked N Loaded, Ruotolo revealed his initial assessment when accepting the challenging matchup:

"Adrian, he's a tough kid for sure. You know, even when I first accepted the match, quite frankly, I knew he was tough."

North American fans with an active Amazon Prime Video subscription can watch this explosive lightweight clash and the entire ONE Fight Night 35 card live in U.S. primetime for free.