ONE Fight Night 16: Tye Ruotolo Anticipating A Dog Fight Against Magomed Abdulkadirov

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Since arriving in ONE Championship 17 months ago, Tye Ruotolo has been impenetrable. The American phenom has submitted three of his four opponents in masterful fashion, leading him toward the chance to make history as the first ONE Welterweight Submission Grappling World Champion.

Ruotolo meets Russian wrangler Magomed Abdulkadirov for the vacant crown in the co-main event of ONE Fight Night 16: Haggerty vs. Andrade this Saturday, 4 November, at the iconic Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.

Fellow Americans Mikey Musumeci, Danielle Kelly, and his twin brother Kade have already attained submission grappling gold in the world's largest martial arts organization. Ruotolo dreams of joining that illustrious list, but the 20-year-old is not allowing the pressure to get to his head.

"You can't help but think about it, for sure. It pops into my mind here and there, and I think everyone's different. But for me, I feel like it's my job to block that out and focus on the task at hand. So at the end of the day, that's what I'm focusing on. All day long, at night, that's all I'm thinking about is Magomed, how I'm going to dismantle him," Ruotolo said.

"The title is added pressure, but you know, my brother and I have been dealing with pressure our whole lives and we're pretty good at negating it by now. So [I'm] just going to do my part."

Because of the indomitable prowess possessed by Ruotolo, the grappling superstar always enters the battleground as the overwhelming favorite. But even if fans expect him to win, Ruotolo remains grounded in approaching his opposition - especially Abdulkadirov.

The Russian star is rightly among the elite grapplers of the world. As a veteran of the ADCC World Championships, the Sambo specialist will offer Ruotolo a very stern test in Lumpinee Stadium, and the American expects a dog fight with the vacant World Title up for grabs.

"Even when I was first offered the match, I didn't recognize his name at first. But then I did some research and started looking. And I read and I knew who he was. I just didn't recognize his name. And he's a tough guy. He's a dog. He's for sure a tough opponent," Ruotolo said.

"I think a lot of people in the jiu-jitsu community aren't familiar with him because he really hasn't been showing up too much as of recent. But I know that he's very capable. He has big wins over super notable guys like Mica Galvao. So I know he's a gamer. I know he's capable of giving me a super, super tough fight, so I'm not underestimating him one bit."