Ruotolo Brothers and Mikey Musumeci are the latest grapplers to join ONE

One Championship makes push to sign some of the best grapplers on the planet

One Championship, the premier Singaporean martial arts promotion, has been making moves in the grappling world. In March 2021, the organization announced that it had signed Gordon Ryan, the consensus pound for pound best submission grappler on the planet. The organization had already signed Ryan’s teammate Garry Tonon back in 2017, following a grappling match with jiu-jitsu black belt and MMA veteran Shinya Aoki in 2016. Other recent additions to the One roster include Tom DeBlass, Andre Galvao, and Danielle Kelly, as part of the push to put on submission grappling matches along side MMA and kickboxing fights.

One announced on Sunday that they had signed the Ruotolo brothers. Kade and Tye Ruotolo have been highly touted prospects for over a decade despite still being in their teens. The Andre Galvao pupils had their best year to date in 2021. Tye beat William Tackett, Dante Leon, and Mica Galvao last year and recently beat Levi Jones-Leary in January 2022. Kade beat William Tacket, Diego “Pato” Oliveira, Josh Cisneros, Gabriel Sousa, Magid Hage, and Keith Krikorian in 2021. Additionally, the brothers also competed at the IBJJF World Championships in the gi in December. They both ran through their respective sides of the bracket and met each other in the brown belt lightweight final where Tye submitted Kade with an armbar after a back-and-forth match.

Their deal will likely be similar to the other grapplers they’ve signed, where they’re expected to compete in just grappling, but with the promotion having rights to any possible move to MMA as well.

June M. Williams

Another addition to the One roster announced last weekend was Mikey Musumeci. Mikey is currently a five-time jiu-jitsu world champion, winning four titles in the gi and one without the gi. Mikey is known for having not only a dangerous back attack and foot lock game, but also for constantly developing his techniques and adding new layers to his game. In 2021, Mikey dove into no-gi grappling, despite spending most of his training time in the gi in recent years. He competed in multiple Who’s #1 events where he scored important victories over Lucas Pinheiro, Junny Ocasio, Geo Martinez, and Estevan Martinez.

ONE Championship FC

Look for the Ruotolos and Mikey to make their One Championship debuts sometime in 2022. Current grappling matches set to take place at One X on Saturday March 26^th include Andre Galvao vs. Reinier de Ridder and Danielle Kelly vs. Mei Yamaguchi.