Tye Ruotolo needed just 128 seconds to do what nobody had done in four years: take a belt off Christian Lee.
For the first time in four years, Lee is no longer a two-division champion. The 23-year-old Ruotolo upset Lee on Friday in Bangkok with a first-round submission, tapping the two-division champion to a rear-naked choke in his third professional MMA fight — and making history in the process.
Ruotolo (3-0) was patient early, then put Lee on his backside with a two-punch combination. He pounced immediately with heavy ground-and-pound, quickly jumped to full mount, and with Lee covering up, easily took his back and sank in the rear-naked choke. Lee, also an accomplished grappler, fought it briefly, but then tapped. The finish made Ruotolo ONE's new lightweight (170 pounds) champion, leaving Lee with just the promotion's welterweight (185 pounds) title, which he won four years ago.
The loss was just the second stoppage defeat of Lee's career (18-5), and his first in more than 10 years, when he was tapped by Martin Nguyen. Like his first two opponents — including Lee's younger brother Adrian — Christian tapped to the rear-naked choke. Ruotolo, along with the title, got a $100,000 performance bonus for the win.
The result is a statement about where the grappling world is headed. Ruotolo, born in Hawaii, is a jiu-jitsu black belt under former UFC fighter Andre Galvao and trains in San Diego. He won ONE's welterweight submission grappling title in 2023, and his twin brother Kade Ruotolo is a ONE submission grappling titleholder. The brothers came up as grappling prodigies, and now Tye has turned that base into MMA gold in just three fights.
The DAOS take: three fights, three finishes, one championship — and the third one came against a two-division champion who had not been stopped in a decade. That is not a prospect announcement, that is an arrival. Ruotolo did not outpoint Lee or grind him down; he dropped him, mounted him, took his back and choked him out in just over two minutes. The grapplers are not coming to MMA anymore. They are here, and they are taking belts.
Sources: MMA Junkie
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