Tye Ruotolo ended Christian Lee's second reign as ONE lightweight champion, forcing a tapout in just over two minutes of the opening round at The Inner Circle 37 in Bangkok. Lee had entered the bout days after saying he could dominate UFC welterweight champion Islam Makhachev. Ruotolo, the jiu-jitsu standout who has crossed over to MMA, had also choked out Lee's brother Adrian Lee previously.
Tye Ruotolo has dethroned Christian Lee, submitting the two-time ONE lightweight champion in just over two minutes of the first round at The Inner Circle 37 in Bangkok, as first reported by Bloody Elbow. The result ended Lee's second reign with the title.
The finish came days after Lee said he could dominate UFC welterweight champion Islam Makhachev. Ruotolo, a jiu-jitsu standout who has crossed over to MMA, had previously choked out Lee's brother, Adrian Lee, which gives the new champion a submission win over both Lee brothers.
Makhachev, whom Lee had been talking about, is 29-1-0 and holds the UFC welterweight title. The 35-year-old Russian from Eagles MMA fights out of a southpaw stance and stands five-foot-ten with a 70-inch reach. His most recent recorded fight was a unanimous decision win over Ian Machado Garry in a five-round title fight at UFC 330 on August 15, 2026. Before that, he beat Jack Della Maddalena by unanimous decision at UFC 322 in November 2025 and submitted Renato Moicano in round one at UFC 311 in January 2025.
Makhachev's numbers underline the grappling-heavy profile that makes Lee's comments notable. He averages 3.22 takedowns per 15 minutes and 0.9 submission attempts per 15 minutes, and he lands 2.27 significant strikes per minute at 58 percent accuracy. Those figures come from a champion who has built his run on control and finishing opportunities, the same area in which Ruotolo just dismantled Lee.
Why it matters
- Ruotolo claims the ONE lightweight title in his crossover run, adding a championship to a grappling résumé that already includes submitting Adrian Lee.
- Lee's second reign ends in the opening round, with the finish arriving only days after his public comments about Makhachev.
- The fight showed how quickly a high-level jiu-jitsu specialist can close the distance and end a bout against a decorated champion.
Lee's loss comes at a moment when his name had been linked, through his own words, to one of the sport's most dominant grapplers. Instead, the headline from Bangkok belongs to Ruotolo, whose submission game decided the fight inside the first round.
