ONE Championship confirmed the full lineup for The Inner Circle 37 on Sunday, and the main event carries a grudge. Christian Lee defends his ONE Lightweight MMA World Title against Tye Ruotolo on Friday, November 6, at Bangkok’s Lumpinee Stadium. The opponent is Tye, the reigning welterweight submission grappling champ. His twin brother Kade holds the lightweight grappling belt. The card streams for members at live.onefc.com, with ONE listing a 6:30 p.m. ICT start (6:30 a.m. ET).
Why it’s personal: in September 2025 at ONE Fight Night 35, Tye submitted Adrian Lee with a second-round rear-naked choke, handing Christian’s younger brother the first loss of his pro career. Christian was in Adrian’s corner for it.
Lee’s numbers are absurd. The 28-year-old Singaporean-American out of Prodigy Training Center debuted in ONE at 17, and he holds promotion records for most wins, most finishes and most first-round finishes. Seventeen of his 18 victories ended early. He became ONE’s youngest male MMA World Champion in May 2019 by knocking out Shinya Aoki in Round 2 at ONE: Enter the Dragon, then took the welterweight strap from Kiamrian Abbasov with a comeback knockout at ONE on Prime Video 4 in November 2022. He’s now in his second lightweight reign after reclaiming the belt from Ok Rae Yoon, and he last fought at ONE 173 in November, stopping Alibeg Rasulov by second-round TKO.
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Ruotolo, 23, grew up in Huntington Beach, California, and started jiu-jitsu at three. He’s 9-0 in ONE submission grappling, won the inaugural welterweight title against Magomed Abdulkadirov in 2023, and has defended it three times, most recently against Pawel Jaworski at ONE Fight Night 41 in March. His MMA résumé is short and loud. Yahoo Sports described the Adrian fight as back-and-forth before the choke landed. At ONE 173 he put Shozo Isojima out in under three minutes and banked a US$50,000 bonus. If he wins Friday, he becomes the first ONE submission grappling champion to also hold an MMA world title.
The rest of the card
The co-main is a rematch at bantamweight Muay Thai. Komawut FA Group beat Yodphupa Petkiatpet by split decision at ONE Friday Fights 50 in February 2024. Komawut, 27, won seven of his first nine in the Friday Fights series, then dropped five straight before edging Kyaw Swar Win on a split call at The Inner Circle 27 in August. Yodphupa, 22, came in as the Road to ONE: Thailand champion and won his first four, but losses and injuries kept him out nearly two years. He returned this year with a unanimous decision over Adam Benwarwar at ONE Friday Fights 144.
At flyweight Muay Thai, Kongchai Chanaidonmueang (79-16) makes his 19th appearance in the weekly series, more than anyone else. He’s won four straight, last flattening Valerii Strungari in Round 1 at The Inner Circle 17 in June. Across from him is Petchsaman Gym’s Tantawy Ahmed (23-7), who’s 2-0 in ONE after knocking out Rawee Looksuan in August and outpointing Ganchai Jitmuangnon in September.
Unbeaten New Zealander Titus Proctor (22-0), a 22-year-old WBC Muay Thai World Champion with a nasty left hook, meets Maciej Karpinski at lightweight Muay Thai. Cal Cook faces Dabdam Por Tor Tor Thongtawee at strawweight to open things up. Kongchai, Tantawy and Proctor are all chasing a US$100,000 main-roster contract.
My take: Tye earned this shot, but three MMA fights is three MMA fights, and Lee has spent a decade ending people early. Ruotolo’s path is the same one that worked on Adrian, getting to the back and staying there. Lee is bigger in experience, sharper on the feet, and he watched that choke from the corner stool. I’d be stunned if he hasn’t drilled every escape from it. Lee by stoppage inside two rounds.
