Christian Lee To Defend ONE Lightweight MMA World Title Against Tye Ruotolo At The Inner Circle 37
ONE Championship has announced one of its most anticipated World Title fights of the year, booking two members of world-famous martial arts families for a cataclysmic collision.
Reigning ONE Lightweight and Welterweight MMA World Champion Christian “The Warrior” Lee defends his lightweight gold against reigning ONE Welterweight Submission Grappling World Champion Tye Ruotolo at The Inner Circle 37 on Friday, November 6, live from the historic Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand. The event airs exclusively for members via live.onefc.com.
The matchup carries an enormous storyline beyond the stakes. Ruotolo enters this opportunity as the man who handed Lee’s younger brother, Adrian “The Phenom” Lee, his first-ever career defeat. Now, the 23-year-old grappling sensation has the chance to defeat a second member of the legendary Lee family, this time with a ONE World Title on the line.
Lee’s place in ONE history is already secure, but the 28-year-old Singaporean-American from Prodigy Training Center shows no sign of resting on the achievements that have made him one of the most decorated fighters in the promotion.
He made his ONE debut in 2015 at just 17 years old and immediately announced himself as a generational talent, and everything that followed reinforced that early promise.
He claimed the ONE Lightweight MMA World Title for the first time in May 2019 with a stunning come-from-behind victory against legendary Shinya “Tobikan Judan” Aoki to become the youngest male MMA World Champion in ONE. Then he went on to defend the belt multiple times against world-class opposition.
A brief period without the belt after losing to South Korea’s Ok Rae Yoon was emphatically corrected in the rematch, and in his most recent outing last year, he defended the lightweight crown against Alibeg Rasulov in a rematch that left no room for debate.
His 18-4 record includes 17 victories via finish, 11 of those in the first round, and an average bout duration of just 5:14 minutes. These numbers tell the story of one of the most lightning-fast and well-rounded finishers the sport has ever produced.
He also holds the record for most wins, most finishes, and most first-round finishes in ONE — achievements that make him a five-time ONE Lightweight MMA World Champion and one of the greatest to ever compete in the all-encompassing sport.
Standing across from him will be Ruotolo, a 23-year-old Hawaiian-born, California-based fighter from Tenore whose arrival in MMA has been as impactful as anything in the submission grappling world already expected it to be.
The twin brother of reigning ONE Lightweight Submission Grappling World Champion Kade Ruotolo, who is also undefeated in MMA, he built his reputation as one of the most feared submission grapplers alive with a dominant run as ONE Welterweight Submission Grappling World Champion.
Ruotolo’s transition to MMA began in the most statement-making way possible. He made his promotional debut against Christian’s younger brother Adrian and submitted him in the second round via rear-naked choke, handing him the first defeat of his young career and sending a clear message to everyone paying attention.
Less than two and a half months later, Tye put Shozo Isojima to sleep in under three minutes to extend his MMA record to 2-0 and deepen the sense that his transition to the sport has been seamless.
Now, with two MMA fights behind him and the ONE Lightweight MMA World Title on the line in his third, Ruotolo has the chance to achieve something no ONE Submission Grappling World Champion has ever done, claim an MMA World Title in the world’s largest martial arts organization.
