The Inner Circle 37: Christian Lee Promises To Submit Tye Ruotolo In Round Two

The most decorated finisher in ONE Championship history has a personal score to settle. Two-division ONE World Champion Christian Lee puts his lightweight MMA crown on the line against Tye Ruotolo in the main event of The Inner Circle 37 on Friday, November 6, streaming via live.onefc.com, with revenge for his brother Adrian firmly on his mind.

The backdrop is deeply personal. Last year, Ruotolo made his MMA debut against Christian’s younger brother Adrian Lee and submitted him, and the champion has carried that result with him ever since. Now he gets the chance to answer it inside the ring.

“I’m getting this one back for my brother. It’s going to be all business in there. He’s a very good grappler, but you can’t cheat the experience that he hasn’t faced yet,” he said.

Lee, 28, is the Singapore-American superstar who holds the most wins, most finishes, and most knockouts in ONE Championship history. The most decorated finisher in the promotion’s history, he knows exactly how rare it is to hold gold in two divisions at once.

He carries an 18-4 ONE record with 17 finishes into the title defense, and he believes that experience is the gap separating him from a challenger still new to the sport.

“He hasn’t been in the same type of situations in MMA grappling. He’s only been in those situations in pure grappling, and I feel like it’s a different world. He has that experience in his world, but there are definitely levels to this in MMA,” he explained.

Ruotolo, 23, arrives unbeaten with an 11-0 ONE record and a 2-0 MMA record. A victory would make him the first fighter to hold ONE World Titles in both grappling and MMA, a piece of history Lee has no intention of allowing.

Lee has even picked the time and method of his finish.

“Let’s call it a round two finish by submission. That’s my prediction on how this matchup ends,” he added.

A champion fighting for family. A grappling king chasing history. Nothing about this fight will be friendly, and Lee has made clear that his only focus is the finish.