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Tye Ruotolo plans to make his highly-anticipated professional MMA debut within the next twelve months.
On April 5, Ruotolo returned to action and attempted to defend his ONE welterweight submission grappling world title for the first time. The 21-year-old phenom extended his promotional record to 6-0 by submitting Izaak Michell with a "Ruotolotine," leading to a $50,000 performance bonus.
There's no doubt Ruotolo and his twin brother, Kade Ruotolo, are two of the most talented grapplers on the planet. Therefore, the combat sports community has pleaded with IBJJF world champions to transition to MMA and become mainstream superstars.
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During an interview with Sportskeeda MMA, the ONE welterweight submission grappling king was asked for a timeline for his MMA debut. He responded by saying:
"Exactly, early next year or maybe by the end of this year too. Just depends on when I beat my [target] opponents"
The ONE Fight Night 21 replay, including Ruotolo's bonus-winning world title defense, can be seen for free by North American and Canadian viewers with an active Amazon Prime Video subscription.
Watch Tye Ruotolo's entire interview below:
Tye Ruotolo's twin brother, Kade Ruotolo, scheduled his professional MMA debut
Before Tye Ruotolo competed at ONE Fight Night 21, Kade Ruotolo made his sixth promotional appearance in a catchweight bout against Francisco Lo. Similar to his brother, the ONE lightweight submission grappling world champion submitted Lo with the "Ruotolotine" and earned a $50,000 performance bonus.
Over the past year, Kade has seemed more focused on making his professional MMA debut. As a result, ONE Championship announced that the 21-year-old will make the highly anticipated transition on June 7, when he faces Blake Cooper inside the Impact Arena in Thailand for ONE 167.
Cooper fought once under the ONE banner, suffering a first-round knockout loss against Maurice Abevi. The brother of two-time PFL welterweight champion Ray Cooper III now looks to silence the doubters by spoiling Ruotolo's MMA debut.
