Tai Ruotlo extended his perfect record in ONE Championship this past weekend, but he wasn't done yet. At ONE Fight Night 23, the welterweight submission grappling champion defeated South African newcomer Joseph Cheng via unanimous decision in a catchweight bout at Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.
It took the two accomplished ground specialists 10 minutes to decide on a winner, but Ruotolo's aggressive approach saw him emerge victorious.
Ty Ruotolo is eager to follow in his brother Cade's footsteps into MMA
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Though he wasn't defending his belt, the Californian's dominant performance showed he has the mentality of a champion, and securing his seventh submission grappling victory raised the inevitable question in his post-fight interview as to when he might decide to move on to mixed martial arts.
Do you think Ty Ruotolo will be as dominant in MMA as he is in BJJ?
Tai’s younger brother, ONE Lightweight Submission Grappling World Champion Cade, made a successful transition to mixed martial arts last month, and it seems he’s ready to do the same.
“I think I'm a little better than Cade, but I can't wait to do MMA. I'm super excited. I was watching my brother's last fight and I was super excited. It was really good to see him. We always grew up watching MMA and we always wanted to be MMA fighters one day. [become] It's a fighter plane, but it's awesome.” Ruotolo said.
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The twin brothers have been fixtures in submission grappling since they were of competitive age and have become key faces of the sport in ONE Championship over the past two years.
Ruotolo's MMA debut and future goals
After much anticipation, Cade made his MMA debut at ONE 167 in June, submitting American star Blake Cooper in the first round. Though the Thai is intrigued by the idea of testing his skills, he is first focused on establishing his reputation as one of the greatest grapplers of all time. Once that is done, the 21-year-old will be ready to explore his options.
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“I'm happy to get this win in jiu-jitsu. It's another addition to my legend. My legend isn't over yet. I want to be the best in jiu-jitsu. There's no question about it no matter what. I know I'm on my way to that. I think right now me and my brother are definitely considered the best.” Ruotolo said.
He further added: “But I want to be number one in the world pound-for-pound, so I'm not going to stop until I get there. But MMA fighting is a big deal to me, so I'm excited to get a race there as well.”
