Christian Lee defends ONE lightweight MMA title vs Tye Ruotolo at Inner Circle 37

ONE Championship has finalized The Inner Circle 37 for Friday, November 6, at Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, headlined by a ONE Lightweight MMA World Title fight between champion Christian Lee and ONE Welterweight Submission Grappling World Champion Tye Ruotolo. The five-bout card streams exclusively for members at live.onefc.com, according to the official ONE.com card release.

Lee defends the lightweight MMA belt against Ruotolo in what ONE billed as a clash of famous fighting families. Ruotolo is the man who handed Lee's younger brother, Adrian Lee, the first defeat of his professional career.

Lee's title defense and family subplot

Lee, a Singaporean-American two-division ONE world champion from Prodigy Training Center, made his promotional debut at age 17 and became the promotion's youngest male MMA world champion in May 2019 by knocking out Shinya Aoki in round two. He later added the welterweight crown by stopping Kiamrian Abbasov at ONE on Prime Video 4 in November 2022.

ONE lists Lee with the most wins, the most finishes and the most first-round finishes in promotional history, with 17 of his 18 victories coming inside the distance. Sherdog has him at 18-4 entering the bout, coming off a second-round technical knockout of Alibeg Rasulov at ONE 173 in November 2025.

Beyond the belt, Lee is seeking family redemption: Ruotolo previously finished Adrian Lee by rear-naked choke in MMA, the first loss of Adrian's career.

Ruotolo's third MMA fight, first title shot

Ruotolo, 23, from Huntington Beach, California, arrives as the reigning ONE welterweight submission grappling champion and the twin brother of ONE lightweight submission grappling champion Kade Ruotolo. ONE framed the booking as a bid for something no ONE submission grappling world champion has achieved — an MMA world title — in just his third professional MMA fight.

Sherdog lists Ruotolo at 2-0 in MMA after submissions of Adrian Lee and Shozo Isojima, the latter finished in under three minutes at ONE 173. The step up to Lee is the biggest of his short MMA career.

Full Inner Circle 37 card

ONE published the complete five-fight order for November 6:

• Christian Lee vs Tye Ruotolo — ONE Lightweight MMA World Championship
• Komawut FA Group vs Yodphupa Petkiatpet — Muay Thai, bantamweight (rematch)
• Kongchai Chanaidonmueang vs Tantawy Ahmed — Muay Thai, flyweight
• Titus Proctor vs Maciej Karpinski — Muay Thai, lightweight
• Cal Cook vs Dabdam Por Tor Tor Thongtawee — Muay Thai, strawweight

The co-main rematch revisits Komawut's split-decision win over Yodphupa at ONE Friday Fights 50 in February 2024. Both Thai strikers returned to the win column in 2026 after longer stretches of setbacks and injuries, per ONE's card preview.

What is confirmed

Confirmed by ONE Championship: Lee vs Ruotolo headlines The Inner Circle 37 on November 6 in Bangkok for the lightweight MMA world title, with the four Muay Thai undercard bouts listed above and streaming on live.onefc.com. No further weight-cut details, broadcast partners beyond the ONE members stream, or additional title stakes on the undercard were listed in the November 2 full-card release.