Tye Ruotolo will now attempt to defend his welterweight title against Dante Leon at ONE Fight Night 31 on May 2nd, 2025. Both of them have had very impressive runs competing for ONE Championship so far, and neither one of them have lost a match in their tenure there. Ruotolo was actually one of the first athletes to sign a contract to compete in the promotion’s submission grappling divisions, making his debut all the way back in 2022. He won his first four matches with three submission before joining his brother as a ONE world champion by beating Magomed Abdulkadirov at ONE Fight Night 16.
Ruotolo has only had one title-defense against Izaak Michell at ONE Fight Night 21 but he has won a pair of catchweight matches either side of that too. He now has a perfect 7-0 record on the ONE Championship mats and he’ll be facing yet another tough test in his next match. Dante Leon is one of the best competitors in the world at this weight class and he’s had plenty of success against bigger opponents too, including a bronze medal in the absolute division at ADCC 2024. Leon only made his promotional debut just a little over two months ago, but he’s already won a pair of matches and shot up the rankings.
He submitted Bruno Pucci at ONE Fight Night 26 in his very first appearance and he didn’t wait long at all before getting back to work. It was just a month later at ONE Fight Night 27 that he beat Tommy Langaker by decision, and that proved to be enough for him to earn a title-shot. There’s also some history between Dante Leon and Tye Ruotolo too, with Leon winning a decision in their first match in 2020 before Ruotolo got revenge with a submission win the next year. This will be the trilogy match and with the score currently sitting at 1-1, there’s a lot at stake alongside the title itself.
ONE Championship announced the news that Tye Ruotolo will be putting his title on the line against Dante Leon at ONE Fight Night 31 in a recent post to their official Instagram account:
