Tye Ruotolo Overwhelms Magomed Abdulkadirov, Claims ONE Welterweight Submission Grappling World Title

Tye Ruotolo has officially etched his name into the history books as the first-ever ONE Welterweight Submission Grappling World Champion.

This past Friday, November 3, the American phenom secured a dominant unanimous decision victory over Magomed Abdulkadirov to claim the inaugural belt at ONE Fight Night 16: Haggerty vs. Andrade, which broadcast live in U.S. primetime from the iconic Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.

After hand-fighting for positioning on the feet through the first few minutes of the co-main event showdown, the 20-year-old California native jumped into closed guard and immediately began attacking from his back.

Abdulkadirov was defensively tight, but Ruotolo was eventually able to enter into a leg entanglement. The American briefly hunted for a leg lock, but soon, he capitalized on an opportunity to take the top position.

From there, the Atos representative showcased his expert guard passing, using a smash pass to achieve the mount position at the match’s halfway point. 

Moments later, Ruotolo jumped on an arm-in guillotine choke to earn his first catch. He followed that up with a deep D’Arce choke attempt to force his Russian foe to the brink of defeat.

Abdulkadirov gamely defended those submission attempts and even though Ruotolo continued his onslaught of attacks, including a last-second armbar that appeared to be fully locked in, the 32-year-old Dagestani found a way to survive to the final bell.

After 10 minutes of high-paced action, the American BJJ prodigy was awarded the unanimous decision victory, further solidifying his status as one of the best pound-for-pound submission grapplers on the planet today.

With the historic victory, Ruotolo improved his career record to 26-9 overall, earned a US$50,000 performance bonus, and – most importantly – captured the inaugural ONE Welterweight Submission Grappling World Title.

Now, he joins his twin brother, lightweight king Kade Ruotolo, as a ONE Submission Grappling World Champion. Together, they are the second pair of siblings to win ONE World Title gold, merely four and a half years after Angela and Christian Lee achieved the feat.