128 Seconds in Bangkok, One Round in Sydney: Friday’s Fights Ended Early

BANGKOK

Friday was not a day for judges. In Bangkok, a 23-year-old grappler needed 128 seconds to take a two-division champion’s lightweight title. In Sydney, a heavyweight needed less than one round to end a 20-fight boxing career. And in Las Vegas, the scales did the talking as a main event nobody planned a week ago became official for Saturday night. Here is the whole day in fights.

Ruotolo takes Lee’s lightweight title in 2:08

Tye Ruotolo is 3-0 in mixed martial arts, and he is already a two-sport world champion. The American jiu-jitsu star submitted Christian Lee with a rear-naked choke at 2:08 of the first round in the main event of The Inner Circle 37 at Lumpinee Stadium, taking the ONE lightweight (170-pound) MMA title and becoming the first athlete in ONE Championship history to hold world titles in both MMA and submission grappling.

The finish started on the feet, which was supposed to be Lee’s territory. Ruotolo dropped the champion with a crisp right jab and a heavy left hook, swarmed into full mount, landed ground-and-pound as Lee scrambled, then slid to the back and locked in the choke. Lee fought the hand briefly and tapped. It was just the second stoppage loss of Lee’s career, and his first in more than a decade, since Martin Nguyen submitted him.

Context made it sweeter for the challenger. Ruotolo’s MMA debut, at ONE Fight Night 35 in September 2025, was a rear-naked choke of Lee’s younger brother Adrian — the same finish he used on Christian. All three of Ruotolo’s MMA wins have come by rear-naked choke, and Friday’s carried a $100,000 performance bonus from ONE chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong, on top of the $50,000 bonuses he collected for each of his first two wins.

Lee, 28, had not fought in almost a year, and he talked big on the way in. He told MMA Fighting he was “the best fighter in the world across any organization” and that he could “dominate” UFC welterweight champion Islam Makhachev. Ruotolo, who already owned ONE’s welterweight submission grappling title, had a quieter prediction for ONE’s official site: “It’s going to end quick.” He was right, and by the method he had flagged all week — he had rated Lee’s grappling a five or six out of ten and said his likeliest path was the submission.

Lee keeps the welterweight (185-pound) title he has held since 2022, so the double-champ era ends at one belt, not zero. But the lightweight division now belongs to a 23-year-old whose twin brother, Kade, is also unbeaten in MMA at 4-0. On the rest of The Inner Circle card, Yodphupa Petkiatpet edged Komawut FA Group by split decision in the bantamweight Muay Thai co-main, Titus Proctor stopped Maciej Karpinski with a body kick at 1:27 of round three, and Tantawy Ahmed and Dabdam Por Tor Tor Thongtawee both won unanimous decisions.

Gallen’s last fight lasts one round

The Sydney finish was harder to watch. Nelson Asofa-Solomona knocked out Paul Gallen in the first round at TikTok Entertainment Centre, ending the former NRL captain’s farewell fight — and his 20-fight boxing career — with Gallen down on the canvas for several minutes before being taken to hospital. Asofa-Solomona, 30, gave away nothing in the matchup: he is 15 years younger, some 22 centimetres taller and weighed in roughly 33 kilograms heavier. He is now 4-0, with all four wins by knockout.

Gallen, 45, did get to his feet and left the ring under his own power, and the mood around the ring afterward was less shock than relief that this chapter is closed. The full story of the fight, the crowd incident that followed it and the career it ended is here: one fight too many in Sydney.

Vegas 124 is official for Saturday

The UFC’s November slate opens Saturday at the Meta Apex with a main event that did not exist nine days ago. When Sean Brady withdrew with a staph infection on October 29, his welterweight headliner against Gabriel Bonfim went with it, and the promotion rebuilt the top of the card at heavyweight: No. 6 contender Waldo Cortes-Acosta against Johnny Walker, who took the fight on about nine days’ notice, 35 days after knocking out Mick Parkin in his heavyweight debut at UFC 332.

Friday’s official weigh-ins put the co-main on the books: Tatiana Suarez hit 115.5 pounds and Virna Jandiroba 116 for a strawweight fight with a title shot in the room — champion Mackenzie Dern needs a next challenger, and the winner of No. 2 against No. 3 will have the loudest claim. Davey Grant (135.5), Billy Elekana (206), Lucas Fernando (205), Priscila Cachoeira (136), Mitch Raposo (125.5), Karine Silva (125) and Gabriella Fernandes (126) were also officially in on the UFC’s sheet Friday, with the heavyweight headliners’ weights still to be confirmed on it at that point.

Cortes-Acosta (17-4) is trying to end a two-fight skid of decision losses to Alexander Volkov and Curtis Blaydes. Walker (23-10, 1 NC) is trying to turn one heavyweight knockout into a top-10 argument. Prelims start at 5 p.m. ET on Paramount+, with the main card at 8 p.m. ET. Our full card preview is here: Cortes-Acosta vs Walker, previewed — and the story of how the card lost its first main event is here: Brady out, heavyweights in. Last Saturday’s Apex card ended in a refereeing argument that is still running: catch up on Nolan vs Moicano before this one starts.

Also booked

Featherweights Vinicius Oliveira and Pat Sabatini will meet at a UFC Fight Night on January 23, a booking MMA Junkie reported from two people with knowledge of the matchup. The UFC has not announced it officially, and the Meta Apex in Las Vegas is the expected venue. Oliveira (24-4 MMA, 5-1 UFC) stopped Andre Fili in his featherweight debut in June. Sabatini (22-5 MMA, 9-2 UFC) has won four straight and sits No. 7 in the UFC’s featherweight rankings.