Tye Ruotolo and Tainan Dalpra might be about to clash at the IBJJF World Championship 2023, as both men are competing in the middleweight division. It’s one of the most hotly-anticipated matches of the entire tournament and although Dalpra is the clear favourite to win his division, Ruotolo isn’t very far behind. Fans were salivating at the thought of these two meeting on the mats and this could easily be seen as one of the biggest challenges that Dalpra has faced during his reign as the middleweight king. Then the brackets for the tournament were released and the potential match looked even more exciting, because it would serve as the final for the division if they both defeat everyone else.
It was unusual see Tye Ruotolo moving up to middleweight from the lightweight division, but he recently explained to FloGrappling that his motivation to do so came directly from Tainan Dalpra:
“I don’t know what it is, my mom’s like ‘Tye, you gotta take easier matches’… I don’t like it, I don’t get motivated by the easy ones. It’s always the biggest guys possible or the best guys, you know? Right now in the gi, Tainan’s the best. I wasn’t motivated to go and win the worlds, technically I already got a world title. I was motivated to go and beat Tainan.”
Ruotolo was also asked about Dalpra’s game specifically, and how he saw the match going:
“Tainan’s a beast obviously… He’s gnarly. He’s good everywhere, right? Top, bottom, he’s very physically strong and he’s got very good technique to complement that. He’s got a very strong De La Riva, he’s got a very strong pass, he’s good everywhere. I think it won’t be an easy match no matter what, guaranteed. I’m not expecting it to be easy, I’m not expecting to sub him in the first 5 minutes either, I think it’s gonna be tough. But I do think if I get him tired, for sure, towards the end of the match that’s where I’m gonna shine and that’s where I get my sub.”
Despite how confident Tye Ruotolo might seem, taking on Tainan Dalpra in the gi is a monumental task for anyone. Dalpra is undefeated in IBJJF competition at black belt and hasn’t lost a single match at all for just short of two years. He opened up about why he thinks he’s going to be the one to dethrone the middleweight champion though:
“I see a lot of people respect Tainan a lot, and maybe too much. That’s one thing about me, I got respect for everyone but when I’m on the mat: everyone’s the same, you know? I’m not gonna overly respect him at all. I’m gonna go and probably gonna fight him harder than anyone’s ever fought him before. That’s what I’m ready to do, is to go push and make him feel it.”
Tainan Dalpra also sat down with FloGrappling to discuss the middleweight division at the IBJJF World Championship 2023 and he’s just as eager for their potential match as Tye Ruotolo is:
“Every year has been like new people coming in and some people going out too, and actually I get more excited to fight people that I haven’t fought with yet. Competing against the same people every time is great, you get to display new techniques and it’s those tactic fights and everything. But fighting people that you haven’t fought before? That’s what excites me the most. Just to go out there and show my work, and be able to showcase everything that I’ve been working for. So I look forward to matches like this.”
Dalpra also explained why he thinks Ruotolo would be such an interesting matchup for him, and why he thinks it’ll be a great one for the fans to watch too:
“He’s a great athlete. Last year there was a little incident that happened and he ended up with the title, but he’s been a great fighter with the no gi scene. Staying active, the same way I stay active in the gi and whenever you guys get to watch a clash like this happening everybody’s gonna enjoy it. I’m sure both of us will enjoy the moment that we have on the mats, sharing that 10 minutes or however long it goes. It will be great for sure, you guys are in for a treat.”
Of course, both men will have to defeat several other top competitors in order to meet each other in the final, but Dalpra doesn’t see that being an issue at all:
“I’m sure it will happen, I’m confident that will happen and I’m looking forward to it. Probably out of everybody in the bracket he’s the person I’m looking forward to the most.”
The two interviews with Tye Ruotolo and Tainan Dalpra where they discuss the potential of meeting each other at the IBJJF World Championship 2023 were uploaded to the official YouTube channel of FloGrappling:
