Christian Lee Questions Ruotolo's Striking Before Nov. 6 Title Fight

Christian Lee has a plan for Tye Ruotolo, and it does not include a long fight. "Man, I'm going to destroy this guy," Lee told Dan Kuhl of Combat Press. He expects to beat Ruotolo down for five rounds, though he said it could end in the first.

Lee defends his ONE lightweight MMA championship against Ruotolo on Friday, Nov. 6, at The Inner Circle 37 at Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok. The event streams exclusively for members on live.onefc.com.

A grappler with two MMA wins

Ruotolo is ONE's welterweight submission grappling champion. He arrives for his third professional MMA fight with a 2-0 record. One of those wins came against Lee's younger brother, Adrian. Ruotolo's twin brother, Kade, also competes in MMA.

Lee does not dispute the grappling credentials. He is far less sure about the rest of the package.

"He knows that he's very high level in jiu-jitsu, and he's proven that in all of his grappling matches," Lee said. "So he does a good job getting the fight to the ground early, getting them to worry about his takedown, worry about his jiu-jitsu."

Lee called that "a good game plan, a good strategy." His doubt is about what comes next. In his view, the threat of the takedown gives Ruotolo room to land the striking combinations he has been working on.

"He doesn't have that depth in the striking that you can only really gain through experience," Lee said. He added that he thinks the fight will end up "exposing his real amateur skill set in striking."

Lee's plan is to make Ruotolo come to him. He wants to stay outside the challenger's reach, frustrate his attempts to build offense and drag him into exchanges where experience counts.

If it goes to the mat

Lee expects Ruotolo to study his last fight, a rematch with Alibeg Rasulov. Lee gave up an early takedown there, then got back to his feet and finished the fight with strikes in the second round. He thinks Ruotolo will see that opening and believe he can use it.

Lee reads it differently. He said he had expected Rasulov to strike, and when the takedown came, it did not feel like a real danger. "It felt like he was just trying to hold on tight to my leg," Lee said. "And I was able to just stay calm, get back up to the feet and get to work at that point."

He is just as confident about the ground itself. "If the fight hits the mat, I plan to dominate," Lee said. "I've been training and grappling my whole life, just like I've been fighting my whole life."

Lee has stayed in Hawaii at Prodigy Training Center for camp. Longtime training partners have helped him work on every part of his game, and a striking coach traveled from Japan to hold mitts. The camp has also included sparring and planned strategic drilling. "I'm feeling very prepared for this fight," he said.

Lee has four young children, a gym to run and classes to teach, and he would like some downtime at home after this. That break comes second. "I'm ready for a war," he said. "I'm going to be hunting right from the start."

Source: Combat Press