Christian “The Warrior” Lee will defend his ONE Lightweight MMA World Title against Tye Ruotolo, the reigning ONE Welterweight Submission Grappling World Champion, at The Inner Circle 37 on Friday, November 6, at Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok.
ONE Championship announced the booking on September 28. Lee is the reigning ONE Lightweight and Welterweight MMA World Champion; Ruotolo challenges for the lightweight gold. The card streams exclusively for members at live.onefc.com.
The storyline already has a family chapter. Ruotolo is the fighter who handed Lee’s younger brother, Adrian “The Phenom” Lee, the first defeat of his career — a second-round rear-naked choke in Tye’s promotional MMA debut. At 23, the Hawaiian-born, California-based Tenore product now gets a shot at a second Lee, this time with a World Title on the line, in only his third MMA bout.
Lee, a 28-year-old Singaporean-American out of Prodigy Training Center, debuted in ONE in 2015 at 17. He first won the ONE Lightweight MMA World Title in May 2019, coming from behind against Shinya “Tobikan Judan” Aoki to become the youngest male MMA World Champion in ONE history, then defended it multiple times. After a brief stretch without the belt following a loss to South Korea’s Ok Rae Yoon, he took it back in the rematch. His most recent outing last year was another lightweight title defense, a rematch win over Alibeg Rasulov.
His record sits at 18-4, with 17 finishes — 11 of them in the first round — and an average bout time of 5:14. ONE credits him with the promotion’s records for most wins, most finishes, and most first-round finishes, and lists him as a five-time ONE Lightweight MMA World Champion.
Ruotolo arrives as twin brother of Kade Ruotolo, the reigning ONE Lightweight Submission Grappling World Champion, who is also undefeated in MMA. Tye’s own run as ONE Welterweight Submission Grappling World Champion built the grappling resume; the MMA start has been short and sharp. After submitting Adrian Lee, he put Shozo Isojima to sleep in under three minutes less than two and a half months later to move to 2-0. The title fight is his third trip to the cage — and, as ONE frames it, a chance to do something no ONE Submission Grappling World Champion has done before: claim an MMA World Title.
The Inner Circle 37 — Friday, November 6, 2026 — Lumpinee Stadium, Bangkok
- ONE Lightweight MMA World Championship: Christian Lee vs Tye Ruotolo
Announcement on ONEFC.com.
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