“I always do my best to give a good show” - Tye Ruotolo not entirely pleased with victory over Jozef Chen
Despite walking away with another win, reigning ONE welterweight submission grappling world champion Tye Ruotolo was not thrilled with his performance at ONE Fight Night 23.
Ruotolo returned to the iconic Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, welcoming 19-year-old grappling wizard Jozef Chen to martial arts' biggest global stage for a catchweight clash. After 10 minutes of back-and-forth action, Ruotolo was awarded the victory, securing the decision on all three scorecards.
Speaking with members of the media during his ONE Fight Night 23 post-fight interview, Tye Ruotolo was critical of his own performance, saying:
"That's not a performance that I like to have, especially in a place like Lumpinee. I have so much respect for the people in the audience and the stadium, so I always do my best to give a good show."
Tye Ruotolo extended his unbeaten streak under the ONE Championship banner to 7-0. Though no official announcements have been made regarding his next appearance inside the Circle, Ruotolo plans on defending his welterweight grappling title before 2024 comes to an end.
If you missed any of the action, ONE Championship fans in the United States and Canada can watch the ONE Fight Night 23 replay on demand via Amazon Prime Video.
Tye Ruotolo aims to put his ONE world title on the line before 2025
Speaking with Sportskeeda MMA even before he went toe-to-toe with Jozef Chen inside the Mecca of Muay Thai, Tye Ruotolo revealed that a title defense is still on his itinerary before we head into 2025.
"100 percent. I think we got some talks about it pretty soon. So yeah, I’ll be stoked to defend my belt before the year’s over, for sure," Ruotolo said.
In the meantime, Ruotolo will likely be in the corner of his twin brother and fellow ONE world champion Kade Ruotolo when he returns to the Circle on Friday, September 6 for perhaps the biggest grappling match in ONE history.
Putting his ONE lightweight submission grappling world title on the line, Kade Ruotolo will square off with current ONE flyweight submission grappling king Mikey Musumeci.
Follow this link for tickets for ONE 168: Denver on September 6 at Ball Arena.