Tye Ruotolo Retains ONE World Title, Admits Feeling Ring Rust
The belt stayed where it belonged, but Tye Ruotolo left Bangkok with unfinished business on his mind.
The 23-year-old American successfully made the third defense of his ONE Welterweight Submission Grappling World Title against Polish IBJJF No-Gi World Champion Pawel Jaworski at ONE Fight Night 41: Sinsamut vs. Jarvis on Prime Video on Friday, March 13, inside Bangkok’s legendary Lumpinee Stadium. But Ruotolo’s post-fight honesty was as striking as anything that unfolded on the mat.
The night opened with a moment nobody saw coming. Ruotolo launched off the ropes and drove through his challenger with a thunderous pro wrestling-style spear — a move he had spent months rehearsing with his twin brother and ONE Lightweight Submission Grappling World Champion Kade Ruotolo as a training partner.
“I just sent it on the ropes, and that’s a hard move to defend,” Ruotolo said. “My opponent did not even try to defend. He looked like a deer in the headlights. It worked out pretty well.”
Once the theater gave way to the grappling, though, Jaworski proved a genuinely dangerous puzzle. The Pole’s leg-locking game, flexibility, and inversions pushed the champion harder than expected, and Ruotolo acknowledged the difficulty plainly.
“I knew it was going to be a challenge, for sure, especially in 10 minutes,” he said. “It’s gonna be hard to break these guys and get past their guards.”
Jaworski even scored a catch with under two minutes remaining. Ruotolo responded with a deep mounted choke to secure his second catch, then threatened with a triangle choke as time expired. All three judges scored it in his favor.
His record in submission grappling moved to 37-12. His gold remained. But Ruotolo graded his own performance without sentiment.
“I felt a little rusty in there, to say the least,” he admitted. “I’m normally three or four steps ahead of my opponents. I think it’s just a lack of training in jiu-jitsu and too much focus on MMA.”
The 23-year-old went undefeated in MMA across the second half of 2025, submitting both Adrian Lee and Shozo Isojima. The cross-training has come at a cost — and he knows it.
“This is gonna fire me up for the next time. I’m gonna get back to the lab with my brother, work on all this stuff that we’ve been lagging on,” he said.
READ MORE: Ian Garry Questions Islam Makhachev’s Hand Injury, Accuses Champion of Ducking the Fight
Recent posts
