Tye Ruotolo made a successful transition to mixed martial arts, submitting Adrian Lee with a rear-naked choke at 4:14 of the second round at ONE Fight Night 35 on Friday, September 5, at Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.
The ONE Welterweight Submission Grappling World Champion dominated Lee in his MMA debut, earning a $50,000 performance bonus for the highlight-reel finish.
"This isn't just another day in the office. It's a whole new experience for me, so the fact that I got to come out on top and I'm not too hurt, and I'm just real happy and blessed," Ruotolo said.
Both fighters exchanged striking and grappling throughout the contest before Ruotolo secured the decisive submission in the second round.
"I had him in the choke. I think the ref was asking me to kind of reset, but I had him in the choke, so I was yelling at him, I was telling him, 'Let me choke him,'" Ruotolo said. "I sunk it in with one hand, and yeah, I was pretty confident I was locking it in for sure."
Ruotolo credited his brother Kade, the ONE Lightweight Submission Grappling World Champion, for pushing him to improve his striking during camp.
"My brother, Kade, he had three MMA fights, and the striking started to get real crisp and sharp, better than mine, for sure. So I had to get competitive with him," Ruotolo said. "At the start of this camp, I was telling coach Tyler Wombles, 'Man, my process doesn't feel sharp.' And in the fight today, I just felt like I was just lasering across the whole bunch."
Despite pre-fight tensions, Ruotolo maintained respect for his opponent following the victory.
"Absolute scrapper. Super formidable opponent, for sure. He's good everywhere. He's got good striking, good grappling — and that's why I called him out," Ruotolo said. "I pray he's alright, and he makes a fast recovery. I'm sure he's got a bright career ahead of him."
Ruotolo plans to continue competing in both MMA and submission grappling while targeting a championship path.
"I don't care to have a whole bunch of fights in my MMA career whatsoever. I want to have a short road to the top," Ruotolo said. "Whoever's next, who's going to get me to the belt, that's what I want next. I want to keep defending my belt for jiu-jitsu at the same time."
