Ruotolo Brothers matched against Tonon, Aoki in ONE Championship grappling debuts
A month after their signing to ONE Championship was announced, twin brothers Tye and Kade Ruotolo have officially been matched for their promotional grappling debuts.
The Ruotolo brothers, although only teenagers, are some of the best young prospects in Jiu Jitsu. As toddlers, the two took the sport off and has taken off running. As of now, they are purple belts but have taken the world by storm. They’ve trained under Andre Galvao and have competed in numerous competitions, winning medal after medal.
On Monday, ONE Championship Chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong confirmed that both competitors will compete on the same card against a pair of highly decorated grappling superstars in Garry Tonon and Shinya Aoki. Tye Ruotolo will take on Tonon in a lightweight bout, while Kade Ruotolo will meet Aoki.
BOOM!!! pic.twitter.com/rScxSvjiiS
— Chatri Sityodtong (@yodchatri) April 18, 2022
Sityodtang also posted the rules to the contests in a separate post on Facebook.
“BREAKING NEWS: BOOM!!! On May 20, the world will once again witness real jiu-jitsu at the highest levels on the planet in ONE. The rules are simple. 1 round. 12 minutes. No Points. Submission Only. Yellow Cards for stalling. If a match ends without a submission, the athlete with the most number of real submission attempts wins.
As a Team Renzo Gracie Brown Belt, I want to help ignite jiu-jitsu around the world and bring it into global mainstream consciousness by showcasing the greatest jiu-jitsu finishers on the planet, telling their incredible stories, and shining the biggest spotlight on their greatness. I also want to provide a legitimate professional athletic career path and this is why ONE pays the highest in the world for our jiu-jitsu superstars (alongside the potential opportunity to win a US$50,000 bonus every time they step into the cage).
At the risk of offending some folks in our jiu-jitsu community, I feel that a part of the essence of jiu-jitsu has been lost in the last several years. Too many bullshit strategies, positions, and techniques designed only to score an advantage and/or points have sadly emerged in recent years, especially in the Gi. Since the birth of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu by the Gracie Family, the true essence of the gentle art has always been to finish fights, be it on the streets, in the ring, or on the mats. As a lifelong martial artist, I started ONE over 10 years ago to showcase authentic martial arts and its true essence to the world. Today, ONE is not only the world’s largest martial arts organization, but it also has the highest finish rate (71%) of any major global organization. It is not an accident that our roster across disciplines is full of only the world’s greatest championship martial artists who also have the aggressive styles and killer instincts to finish fights.
A random conversation with my good buddy, Roger Gracie, many years ago opened my eyes to a simple truth. Whether it is on the mats in an academy, under the bright lights of a world championship, or in the concrete jungle of the streets, Roger deliberately has the exact same game. He has honed his game to remove everything, except for the universal truth of finishing an unarmed opponent under any condition in the most efficient manner possible. As the great Albert Einstein once said, “Any darn fool can make something complex; it takes a genius to make something simple.”
On May 20, the world will witness the extraordinary genius of 4 superstar champion jiu-jitsu finishers doing what they do. FINISH! If you know nothing about jiu-jitsu, you do NOT want to miss these matches. If you know something about jiu-jitsu, you will NOT miss these matches. LET’S GOOOOO!!! #WeAreONE”
