Tye Ruotolo - WNO Middleweight & Welterweight BJJ Champion

1. Tye Ruotolo’s Details

2. Tye Ruotolo’s Biography

Tye Ruotolo is a BJJ Black Belt under Andre Galvao, who is a 4th-Degree BJJ Black Belt and is called the King of Grappling. Tye is associated with Atos Jiu-Jitsu. He became famous when he received his first brand endorsement when he was only 10 years old.

2.1. Tye Ruotolo’s Early Life

Photo credit: @rvca

Tye Ruotolo was born on 22 January 2003 in Maui. It is a state of Hawaii with Italian and Puerto Rican heritage.

Moved to California

Tye’s family moved to Huntington Beach in California when he and his twin brother Kade were babies.

Enrolled in BJJ School

As his parents had experience with BJJ, they wanted their sons to learn BJJ. So, they enrolled Tye and his twin brother Kade Ruotolo in Cleber Luciano’s BJJ school.

Tye Ruotolo’s First Competition

Tye’s first BJJ competition was in 2006 when he was only 3 years old.

Earned RVCA Scholarship

Tye’s father was an active BJJ practitioner. With his father’s guidance and the training of Luciano, Tye and his brother started to climb the ladder of success in the sport. They were called “Grappling First Child Stars”.

Because of his status, he earned a sponsorship with one of the top athletic brands (RVCA) when he was only 10 years old.

Art of Jiu-Jitsu Academy

The fame of the Ruotolo brothers took them to one of the most famous BJJ academies, the Art of Jiu-Jitsu Academy (AOJ). It was mainly because of Tye and Kade’s relation to the brand RVCA. AOJ was led by IBJJF World Champions Luiz Guilherme and Rafael Mendes. Tye, Kade, and their younger sister Nya trained at AOJ for almost 4 years.

Moved to Atos Academy

In the middle of 2017, Kade moved to Atos Headquarters Academy located in San Diego. At that time, Atos Academy was affiliated with AOJ. At Atos HQ, Tye’s finances were taken care of by Andre Galvao. Training with Andre Galvao was a life-changing experience for Tye.

2.2. Tye Ruotolo’s Pro BJJ Combats

East Coast ADCC Trials

Tye’s first pro-level No-Gi fight was in November 2018, at the East Coast ADCC Trials in New Jersey. Being a 15-year-old Blue Belt, he reached the semi-final of the tournament. He defeated many professional adult athletes to reach there.

Promoted to Black Belt

Andre Galvao awarded him with the Blue Belt on 5 April 2018 when he was 15 years old.

Tye received his Purple Belt on 27 December 2019 at the age of 16.

He earned the Brown Belt on 19 October 2020 at the age of 17.

Finally, he was promoted to Black Belt by Andre Galvao on 14 December 2021 when he was 18 years old.

West Coast ADCC Trials

Tye had a really good experience at the East Coast event so he went for the No-Gi West Coast event too. Due to his excellent performance, he was invited to the semi-final in Anaheim in September 2019. He amazed everybody there because of his performance while being only a 16-year-old boy.

WNO Champion

Tye won the title of WNO Champion by defeating Levi Jones-Leary in only 5 minutes.

IBJJF World Champion

He became the IBJJF World Champion in 2021 while still being a Brown Belt.

2.3. Tye Ruotolo’s Historic Fights

Tye Ruotolo Vs. Garry Tonon

The fight between Tye and Garry was a historic fight. Garry Tonon is a top-class BJJ fighter as he puts his opponent in a dangerous position to gain advantage points. He did the same with Tye. But Type is also a very avid grappler. He swiftly came out of the position and applied the Darce Choke. He submitted Gary Tonon in only 1 minute and 37 seconds.

Tye Ruotolo Vs. Kody Steele

Kody’s fighting style is more like wrestling which is also called wrestling-Jitsu. He fights to gain the dominant position so he can be on top of his opponent.

In most fights, Tye applies the Darce Choke because of his long hands which makes it easy.

Tye grabs his head of Kody and pulls him down to the mat. Tye tried multiple times to pull Kody down to the mat and when he finally succeeded, he gained the dominant position.

Tye tried guard passing by switching the sides. Kody stayed extended on the mat to prevent himself from Tye’s aggressive moves. Tye also put his hand on Kody’s mouth to obstruct his breathing. The throws by Tye were pretty savage. Finally, Tye submitted Kody with the Inside Heel Hook. Tye submitted his Kody in only 13 minutes and 30 seconds.

Tye Ruotolo Vs. Johnny Tama

Tye Ruotolo is ranked the number 1 middleweight grappler in the world. His fight in 84 Kg was an epic fight.

Tye grabbed Tama from the back and took him down on the mat. Instantly, Tama pinned Tye to the ground. Tye came in the dominant position when he had his arm around Tama’s neck. From that point, he could easily apply to RNC or Darce Choke.

Tama tried to strip the neck grip of Tye. Tye then rolled into the top position, applied Darce choke, and submitted Johnny Tama in 9 minutes and 37 seconds.

Tye Ruotolo Vs. Kade Ruotolo

Kade got the advantage point for nearly applying the takedown against Tye. Tye tried to apply the Inside Heel Hook but the situation was instantly invented by Kade.

Kade again secured 2 points by the sweep from the guard position. The match was quite difficult and there were not enough chances for Tye’s victory. But he submitted Kade by applying the deadly Armbar. Tye won the match in 6 minutes and 13 seconds.

2.4. Tye Ruotolo’s Championships

National

Year	Event	Position	Belt
2015	IBJJF Kids American Nationals	1st	White

International

Year	Event	Belt	Position
2021	WNO Championship	Black	1st
2022	IBJJF World Championship	Black	2nd
2019	IBJJF World Championship	Purple	1st
2021	IBJJF World Championship	Brown	1st
2019	IBJJF European Open	Purple	1st

Record

• WNO Middleweight and Welterweight Champion
• ADCC World Champion
• Jiu-Jitsu’s Top Lightweight Champion

3. Tye Ruotolo’s Main Achievements (Belts)

Year	Event	Belt	Position
2022	IBJJF World Championship	Black	2nd
2020	3QG Kumite 5 GP	Purple	2nd
2022	ADCC	Black	3rd
2019	IBJJF World Championship	Purple	1st
2021	IBJJF World Championship	Brown	1st
2019	IBJJF European Open	Purple	1st
2019	IBJJF European Open	Purple	2nd
2019	ADCC World Champion	Purple	4th

4. Tye Ruotolo’s Professional Record Breakdown

35 Matches	25 Wins	10 Losses
By Submissions	10	1
By Points	5	6
By Advantages	0	0
By Decision	9	3
By Penalties	1	0
By DQ	0	0

4.1. Submission W/L Methods

Submission Method	10 Wins	1 Loss
Darce Choke	3	0
Kneebar	2	0
Inside Heel Hook	1	0
Guillotine Choke	1	0
Arm in RNC	1	0
RNC	1	1
Triangle Armlock	1	0

5. Tye Ruotolo’s Courses

Tye and Kade Ruotolo filmed some BJJ courses for beginners so that they can become better at BJJ.

• Leg Lock Land Mines: Attacking & Counter Attacking
• Upper Body Submission Assault
• The Leg Pin Passing System
• Darces From Everywhere
• Scientifically Shutting Down Modern Leg Attacks
• The Good, The Bad, and The Buggy

6. Tye Ruotolo’s Mat Time

The Mat time was calculated with the help of Tye’s fighting method:

• 55% on the Top
• 34% Stand-up
• 11% on the Bottom

7. Tye Ruotolo’s Current Activities

After becoming professional grapplers, Tye and Kade Ruotolo are building their own gym in Costa Rica, Marbella (Guanacaste). Being only 19 years old, both brothers have created a big name in BJJ.

8. Tye Ruotolo’s Fight History

9. Tye Ruotolo’s Top Fight Links

Photo credit: @onefc