Ruotolo drops and submits Christian Lee in three minutes to claim ONE lightweight title

Tye Ruotolo claimed the ONE Championship lightweight MMA title at Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok on Friday, submitting Christian Lee with a rear-naked choke at the 3:00 mark of the first round to become a two-sport champion in the promotion.

Ruotolo, who already holds the ONE grappling belt, has now won all three of his professional MMA bouts by first-round rear-naked choke — a record that underlines just how dominant his submission game has become at the highest level. He also earned a $100,000 performance bonus for the finish.

The sequence that ended the fight was as complete as it was swift. Ruotolo dropped Lee with a combination on the feet, followed up with ground-and-pound, then took the back and sank in the choke to force the tap. Before the bout, Ruotolo had told reporters he expected a submission victory but had “a lot of cool tools that I’m looking to whip out in the fight as well” — a promise he delivered on in emphatic fashion.

“I 100 percent wanted to get it done in the first round,” Ruotolo said after the win. “It was epic. Got my hands go. I consider that a TKO — even though I finished him with the sub.”

The victory is a remarkable milestone for the 22-year-old, who has transitioned from elite submission grappling to MMA without dropping a round. Lee, a former ONE lightweight champion and one of the promotion’s most decorated fighters, offered a credible test of that progression — and Ruotolo passed it with authority.

With the lightweight MMA belt now alongside his grappling title, Ruotolo has positioned himself as one of the most compelling young fighters in the sport, and the manner of his wins suggests his ceiling in ONE Championship is still some way off.