Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu phenom Tye Ruotolo recently opened up about the devastating knee injury he sustained during the inaugural Craig Jones Invitational (CJI 1), providing intense details about the extent of the damage that nearly derailed his competitive career.
Speaking candidly on the Mighty podcast, the 22-year-old grappling sensation revealed the full scope of his injury, which occurred during what seemed like a routine exchange.
“I ended up tearing I think it was like three or four ligaments. Just like this outside corner in my knee. It was the LCL, the PCL, bicep femoris, and I think the fibular collateral ligament as well,”
Ruotolo explained.
The injury happened during a seemingly innocuous moment in competition.
“It was just through a little bolo exchange. I kind of threw on a toe hold. I wasn’t thinking it wasn’t had much juice on. I was just kind of just flowing through the motions. And then he got scared of the toe hold. So he kind of extended his leg real quick. And then my foot came at me and torqued my knee.”
What made the moment particularly harrowing was Ruotolo’s immediate realization of the severity.
“It was the first time in a match where I really realized like, oh, my knee is fully blown. You know, I’ve injured my knee before in a match a couple times, but that was like the first time where I was like, oh, I can’t. You know, every step was just painful.”
Despite the excruciating pain, the Ruotolo brother displayed the mental fortitude that has made him one of the sport’s elite competitors, managing to continue competing even with the catastrophic damage.
“You know, got through it. Yeah. It was just part of the game, you know, playing with fire, you’re going to get burnt every every now and then.”
The road to recovery proved to be the most challenging period of Ruotolo’s athletic career to date. Rather than opting for traditional surgery, he chose an alternative approach.
“I did the stem cell and the PRP, you know, and then so yeah, that stuff helped a bunch. Just a lot of physical therapy and just really took it took a while. It took like seven months of just of really focused work on it.”
The injury’s impact extended beyond the physical realm, forcing Ruotolo to confront the fragility that exists even at the highest levels of competition.
“It was the biggest injury of my life so far, but super stoked to be past it, you know. You really are grateful for the small things, you know, is how you know when when you’re injured like that.”
Ruotolo makes his MMA debut September 5th against Adrian Lee.
