Friday fight 177 November 6 in Bangkok, Thailand.
Christian Lee says Tye Ruotolo’s two-fight MMA record leaves him untested ahead of their lightweight title fight in Bangkok
While Lee admits Ruotolo’s submission is capable of fighting, the reigning champion believes his challenger has yet to experience the demands of a five-round MMA contest. “Tye is a great grappler. He has good forward pressure, he’s patient and he scrambles well,” Lee said in a pre-fight interview. “Weaknesses? The fact that he’s 2-0 (in MMA). You can say what you want about having all that fight experience, but MMA is different.”
The two-division champion hopes that experience gap will work in his favor.
“He’s never gone in there and fought five rounds. He’s never been in a war. And I think his lack of experience is one of his biggest weaknesses in this matchup,” added Lee.
Ruotolo (2-0) submitted Lee’s younger brother, Adrian LeeAt One Fight Night 35 in September 2025 with a naked choke from behind. Christian said this result provides extra motivation, although he has no personal animosity towards his challenger.
“I’m just going to expose this guy,” Lee said. “I think he’s a very good wrestler, but you can’t cheat on the experience he hasn’t faced yet.”
Lee is coming off a second round TKO win Alibeg Rasulov November 2025 at One 173.
“I’m hoping to just frustrate him, break his will in five rounds,” Lee said. “I don’t think he has all the way to last a round.”