Tye Ruotolo ONE Fight Night 31: WATCH: Kade and Tye Ruotolo show their love to fellow twin brothers Johan and Jordan Estupinan after ONE Fight Night 31 triumph

ONE welterweight submission grappling world champion Tye Ruotolo and ONE flyweight Muay Thai rising star Jordan Estupinan both had successful outings at ONE Fight Night 31 last Friday, May 2. Despite being from different sports, the two sides acknowledged each other in the locker room.

In an Instagram video shared by the world's largest martial arts promotion, Ruotolo and twin brother, ONE lightweight submission grappling world champion Kade Ruotolo, greeted Estupinan and his twin, 135-pound Muay Thai rising star Johan, after Jordan's big-time victory over Ali Saldoev to open the card.

Watch their interaction below:

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Estupinan's bout with Saldoev was certainly worthy of its spot as their back-and-forth duel set the tone for ONE Fight Night 31. With 'Panda Kick' handling business then, Ruotolo was fully focused on defending the throne from eternal rival Dante Leon in the co-main event.

After a short feeling-out process, the 22-year-old immediately shot for a takedown and took control of the action against Leon. Despite Leon's best attempts at regaining some control, Ruotolo's all-out aggression led to him retaining via unanimous decision.

Fans in the United States and Canada with an active Prime Video subscription can rewatch ONE Fight Night 31 on demand.

Tye Ruotolo does not plan to let go of submission grappling gold anytime soon

While he wants to try his hand at MMA very soon, defending the 185-pound submission grappling crown remains on top of Tye Ruotolo's priority list.

He said as much in an interview with JitsMagazine ahead of ONE Fight Night 31:

"Yeah, I had a couple of rematches in mind for the past couple of years, but those guys have been injured and more so out of the game. So, right now I'm just looking to stay busy and keep defending my belt and keep holding my number one spot."

Watch the entire video below:

About the author

Karl has been an MMA writer at Sportskeeda since 2023. He holds a Bachelor of Arts major in history, which helps him pay attention to the finer details while writing, and also has first-hand experience in boxing. He has a total experience of 5 years, and has worked for the International Business Times.

Karl turned into an MMA fan back in 2011 after watching Tito Ortiz defeat Ryan Bader via first-round submission at UFC 132. He has interviewed ONE world champions like Eduard Folayang, Joshua Pacio, Stamp Fairtex, and Tawanchai in his career so far.

On the non-MMA side of things, he interviewed WWE superstar Matt Riddle in 2021 and his question about Roman Reigns elicited an interesting answer which was widely covered by outlets like Sportskeeda and Cultaholic Wrestling's YouTube channel. He has also interviewed NBA stars Dwight Howard, Nick Young, Andre Roberson, Shabazz Muhammad, Jason Williams and Brian Scalabrine plus Filipino women's volleyball star Alyssa Valdez.

Karl ensures to double-check facts before using them in articles, and reads up on potential topics for pieces a day before. In his off time, he likes to play video games, and keep up with basketball and pro wrestling.

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Edited by Tejas Rathi