"He throws the kitchen sink at you" - Izaak Michell wary of Tye Ruotolo's 'overwhelming offense' at ONE Fight Night 21
Izaak Michell explained one of the primary reasons Tye Ruotolo has reached global success in submission grappling.
Michell is a 25-year-old Aussie who trains under the legendary jiu-jitsu coach John Danaher. Over the past few years, he's made a name for himself in the submission grappling community by securing first-place finishes at the ADCC Asia & Oceania trials (2022) and a Who's Next tournament in the same year.
On April 5, Michell will make his ONE Championship debut in the co-main event of ONE Fight Night 21. The no-gi specialist must be ready for war, as he's scheduled to challenge ONE welterweight submission grappling world champion Tye Ruotolo.
During an interview with the promotion, Michell had this to say about what makes Ruotolo special:
"Basically, he throws the kitchen sink at you, and if you're not prepared to deal with that, then a lot of people get caught, and then it's just too much. It's an overwhelming amount of offense coming at them at once."
ONE Fight Night 21 will take place inside the iconic Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand. The event featuring two world title fights on US primetime can be seen live and for free by North American viewers with an active Prime Video subscription.
Tye Ruotolo looks to maintain undefeated ONE Championship record by defeating Izaak Michell
Tye Ruotolo made his ONE Championship debut in May 2022, defeating Garry Tonon by D'arce choke. Ruotolo followed up his impressive first showing with a performance bonus-winning wrist lock submission against former ONE featherweight MMA world champion Marat Gafurov.
The 21-year-old superstar went on to defeat former two-division MMA world champion Reinier de Ridder and Dagi Arslanaliev. In his latest match, Ruotolo faced Magomed Abdulkadirov in November 2023 and became the inaugural ONE welterweight submission grappling world champion with a unanimous decision win.
Ruotolo now looks to defend his throne for the first time against Izaak Michell at ONE Fight Night 21.