"It's something that I really want to do" - Tye Ruotolo admits twin Kade's MMA success inspires him to do the same
BJJ superstar Tye Ruotolo is ready to dip his feet into MMA waters after watching his brother, Kade, win his first MMA match a few weeks ago.
Fresh off a catchweight victory at ONE Fight Night 23 against 19-year-old prodigy Jozef Chan, Tye Ruotolo has reached a new level of maturity in terms of where he wants to take his jiu-jitsu career next.
Taking the initiative this week at the OFN23 post-event interviews, Tye detailed how serious he is in following his brother's footsteps and making that good transition from submission grappling into MMA:
"It's something I've been wanting to do for a while, especially after watching my brother go and kill it. It's something that I really want to do."
Tye Ruotolo is not the type to boast about his striking skills, but based off of Kade's performance against Blake Cooper at ONE 167, you can bet that he knows how to exchange strikes. Kade's game plan was solid from the start, which was to score a takedown, make a pass, and then submit. If Tye sticks to his guns, he'll also be a major threat in the division.
"I could've performed a lot better" - Tye Ruotolo is disappointed for not finding the finish against Jozef Chen in Bangkok
21-year-old Tye Ruotolo was the least impressed by his performance last Friday against Jozef Chan at ONE Fight Night 23.
The American phenom has seen better performances in his young career as a grappler due to having a great fight camp. Tye, however, didn't feel like he had the same aggressive energy as before. Difficult to pinpoint exactly where the deficiency lied, Tye resorted to sharing the following answer to ONE Championship post-fight:
"I could've performed a lot better. It's not a performance that I'm very proud of. I didn't have the best camp, and I didn't feel the best way going through the fight."
Compared to his other matches, we can see why Tye feels disappointed, especially after coming off a stoppage victory against Izaak Michell back in April. Nevertheless, Tye is still happy about capturing the decision.
He continued to add:
"It's the fact that I won even on my worst day - it makes me happy."
The full replay of ONE Fight Night 23 is available on demand for Prime Video subscribers in North America.