Tye Ruotolo says he’ll transition to MMA sometime next year: “I’ll let Kade go first and be the crash dummy”

IBJJF world champion Tye Ruotolo plans on making the move to mixed martial arts next year… just as soon as his brother goes first.

Ruotolo will have the opportunity to claim his first ONE world championship this Friday night as he steps inside the legendary Lumpinee Boxing Stadium for a showdown with dangerous Dagestani standout Magomed Abdulkadirov. The winner will emerge as the promotion's first-ever ONE welterweight submission grappling world champion.

Win or lose, Tye Ruotolo plans to make the move to MMA in 2024, but he’s going to go ahead and let his brother, current ONE lightweight submission grappling world champion Kade Ruotolo leap into the world of mixed martial arts first.

“My hands are pretty wrapped up right now with jiu-jitsu right now, with all my goals,” Rutolo told the South China Morning Post. “But 100 percent, next year, I want to make my [MMA] debut as well. I love MMA so much, just like my brother."

He added:

“I’ll let [Kade] go first and let him be the crash dummy. Hopefully, he goes and smashes. I got a lot of confidence in him. I know he’ll do great. So I’ll follow in his footsteps in that regard.”

Watch the interview below:

Tye Rutolo is undefeated under the ONE Championship banner since making his promotional debut in 2022. During that run, he has run through some of the biggest names in the sport, including Garry Tonon, former ONE world champion Marat Gafurov, and reigning middleweight world champion Reinier de Ridder.

Will Ruotolo claim his first 26 pounds of ONE gold inside the legendary Lumpinee Boxing Stadium, or will the smothering Dagestani-style wrestling of Magomed Abdulkadirov be too much for the 20-year-old prodigy to overcome?

Amazon Prime Video subscribers in North America can catch all the action at ONE Fight Night 16: Haggerty vs. Andrade on Prime Video live in U.S. primetime on November 3.