Dante Leon spoke about his upcoming world title match against Tye Ruotolo on May 2, 2025, at ONE Fight Night 31.
Dante Leon is no stranger to high-profile, high-stakes matches, but he thinks his upcoming trilogy clash with Tye Ruotolo is the biggest of them all.
The pair is set to collide in a 10-minute submission-only affair on Friday, May 2, at ONE Fight Night 31 in Bangkok. The bout will have Ruotolo’s ONE welterweight submission grappling world title on the line and will mark the third meeting between the two grapplers.
In their first match, back in early 2020 at Grapplefest, Leon was able to control the pace and tempo from top position, scoring a couple of dominant positions to take home a decision victory.
They would meet again in 2021 at the Who’s Number One championships, and that time, Ruotolo evened the score with a last-second modified guillotine submission win.
Since then, both athletes have gone on to firmly establish themselves among the planet’s top 10 pound-for-pound grapplers. Their clash at ONE Fight Night 31 will mark a meeting between two competitors at the top of their game.
While Ruotolo will be returning from a knee injury suffered last summer at the inaugural Craig Jones Invitational, Leon comes into the match loaded with momentum. At the 2024 ADCC World Championships, he suffered a surprisingly early exit in the 77kg division, but roared back in the absolute division, submitting Mica Galvao and earning a decision over Giancarlo Bodoni to earn bronze.
In ONE, the Canadian has picked up a submission win followed by a hard-fought decision victory over Tommy Langaker to earn his crack at Ruotolo’s belt.
Given that context, Leon believes that this is the most important match in grappling right now. In an interview with ONE Championship, he explained:
“This is, in my opinion, the biggest match in the world right now, to be honest. Maybe I’m biased to myself, but when you talk about a match that has history, you talk about a match that has excitement, that has titles, that has accolades, that has prestige, that has, probably, in my opinion, the most respected World Title belt attached to it going to the winner at the end of the match.
“It being on ONE FC, it being on Amazon Prime. I mean, there’s a million reasons why this is probably the biggest match in the world right now. This is one of the biggest matches that we’ve ever had in the sport… This is kind of the pinnacle of everything.”
Although his loss to Ruotolo at WNO happened nearly four years ago, it’s still fresh on Leon’s mind.
Looking back, he said that allowed himself to be put on the defensive early, and against an offensive dynamo like Ruotolo, that’s not a mistake he can afford to make.
His preparation for the rubber match has focused on getting ahead early and staying ahead until he scores the submission. However, even if he does find himself in a bad spot, Leon is confident that he has the skills and experience needed to take control of the match:
“The goal is to not get put behind, is to not get put on the back foot. But if that does happen or if some of the same things occur as they did in the first match, I’m 100 percent better equipped to deal with that and get myself back in the match.
“There’s a big difference between getting behind or being behind a step and staying behind and staying behind a step. And that was a thing that I think I did. I think I dropped the ball a little bit in that last match that we had. I got behind. It took me a really long while to be able to catch back up and get there. And then once I did, it just really wasn’t enough.
“So, you know, now as the athlete that I am with the mindset that I have and the work that I’ve done as far as my jiu-jitsu, as far as competing, the amount of experience I’ve had since 2021 is probably more between, 2021 and now than it’s been in the last 12 years before that I’ve done jiu-jitsu and competed. So, yeah, I’m a lot different now.”
Indeed, Leon has shown marked improvements in all aspects of his game over the past few years, including this wrestling and takedowns, his trademark reverse De La Riva guard, and, more recently, his ever-evolving leg lock game.
Ultimately, he believes that it’s his versatility that will carry him to victory over Ruotolo. While both men are viewed as two of the sport’s most well-rounded grapplers, Leon thinks he’s more skilled overall.
When asked if he is the more versatile grappler, he didn’t mince his words:
“I do. And it’s not to say that he’s not. I think that Tye, we just don’t see him play a lot of guard. We just don’t see him do things like that very often. And why does he really need to if he can just get on top of almost anybody and just, you know, do what he does or force people to get down on the bottom?
“I mean, just because of my style and just because of how things go, you see me play in a lot of different positions. You see me in a lot of different exchanges, more so than you do a lot of other people. But, against him, I don’t see this as me having to play anything that he forces me to or he makes me choose.”
That versatile skill set and ability to compete in all areas of grappling have given Leon an immense amount of confidence ahead of ONE Fight Night 31.
Of course, he respects Ruotolo and all that he brings to the table. He was quick to point out that Ruotolo and his twin brother Kade bring a certain level of fearlessness and tenacity that most opponents struggle to handle.
But Leon said that he’s ready for whatever Ruotolo throws at him:
“I can hang with Tye anywhere, to be honest. I don’t think that there’s anywhere that I see myself being way behind him.
“You have to remember one thing about Tye and Kade, too is when they do something, they go 100 percent. Even if it’s a move that you look at on paper, it probably shouldn’t work, or you see them do it and you’re like, ‘How did they make that work?’ It’s because they go 100 percent with everything they do. They really bite down on their mouth guard, and they commit to everything they do. So their no-fear, no-bulls*** kind of mentality really propels them forward, and it allows them to use a large repertoire of techniques and tools that otherwise wouldn’t work.
“As far as me, I think I can fight guys like that on all levels. I think I can be very technical. I think I can be very tight. I think I can play a very – not necessarily ‘strategic,’ because that word always means that you’re gonna be boring nowadays, but strategic with excitement.
“I can play that style. I can play guard. I can play on top, and I can wrestle really well. I can scramble with the best of people.
“I’m definitely gonna be physically stronger than he is. My cardio, my conditioning, my shape’s gonna be top notch. I don’t necessarily see anywhere that I’m going to be lacking in.”
In the end, Leon sees himself emerging victorious, ahead 2-1 in his rivalry with Ruotolo and the new ONE welterweight submission grappling world champion.
There’s no secret game plan or special techniques that he’ll surprise Ruotolo with, he said. Instead, he aims to take charge early, win every position, and hand Ruotolo his first submission loss since 2019.
Leon added:
“Going into a match like this, it’s hard to say. It’s hard to say what is going to happen. If I’m to speak honestly, I 100 percent feel like I’m going to win this match.
“In order to win the match, it’s not gonna be as far as, like, a strategy, as far as a sweep, as far as a submission catch. I’m going to try to submit him. I’m going to try to beat him and secure a victory that takes all judges, takes any kind of opinion out of it. It’s gonna be a submission victory if it’s gonna be anything. I’m 100 percent confident in that happening.
“How that happens, when that happens, what happens before that, it’s really tough to say. He’s very, very good. He’s very unorthodox. He’s very unpredictable. He’s not gonna be easy in anything. He’s gonna be a tough customer wherever we end up. So, you know, how it happens, when it happens, I don’t know. But as far as who’s gonna win the match, I think I’m gonna win the match.”
How to watch: Tye Ruotolo vs. Dante Leon takes place on Friday, May 2, 2025, at ONE Fight Night 31, and will air live on Prime Video (free with Amazon Plus subscription) beginning at 9:00 PM EST.
