Tye Ruotolo says first world title defense against Izaak Michell will be his ‘toughest match’ on the global stage

ONE welterweight submission grappling world champion Tye Ruotolo will be making his first title defense this week against top-ranked grappler Izaak Michell in a contest he considers his toughest match to date on the global stage.

The 21-year-old Atos standout will try to retain the welterweight grappling gold in the co-headlining event at ONE Fight Night 21: Eersel vs. Nicolas on April 5 at the Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok. Thailand.

It will be Ruotolo's first fight back after becoming world champion in November with a unanimous decision victory over Russian Magomed Abdulkadirov.

In an interview with CountFilms TV in the lead-up to his title defense, Tye Ruotolo spoke about the opportunities presented to him by ONE and his match-up with Michell.

He said:

'I'm stoked and so grateful, you know. At the end of the day, like I love coming and fighting in ONE, I mean we built our dream gym because of this, you know, and there was a little feeling of like I need to beat the best in the world, you know."

Adding:

"And I was fighting a lot of really tough guys but Izaak Michell is going to be the toughest match I have so far. So thank you so much to ONE for bringing some of the best in the world."

Watch the interview below:

Michell will be making his promotional debut at ONE Fight Night 21. He is a noted grappler from Australia and is currently ranked No. 2 in the 185-pound category in the official no-gi rankings behind Ruotolo.

ONE Fight Night 21 will be airing live in U.S. primetime, free of charge for existing Prime Video subscribers in North America.

Izaak Michell says Tye Ruotolo as dangerous as they come

As much as Tye Ruotolo is expecting a grueling match against Izaak Michell, the latter is also girding for the tough task at hand of snatching the ONE welterweight submission grappling world title from the American champion.

The Australian BJJ standout will try to cut the reign of Ruotolo as champion at ONE Fight Night 21: Eersel vs. Nicolas on April 5 in Thailand. He is out to make a big splash in his promotional debut by coming up with a win and becoming a world champion at the onset.

While confident of his abilities, Izaak is fully aware, however, that victory will not come easy, especially against an opponent like Tye Ruotolo.

He shared his thoughts on the reigning champion in an interview with ONE Championship, saying:

"Obviously, he ranked number one in the world at 185, so he's as good as they come. So, I guess what he does well, he's very aggressive, but at the same time, he can change his intensity and be smooth and he's not afraid to do anything that comes up."

ONE Fight Night 21 is headlined by the lightweight kickboxing championship fight between reigning champion Regian 'The Immortal' Eersel and French challenger Alexis 'Barboza' Nicolas.