As elite Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt Osamah Almarwai prepares for the biggest opportunity of his career, he’s learning and drawing inspiration from a pair of young ONE superstars.
On May 5 at ONE Fight Night 10: Johnson vs. Moraes III on Prime Video – the promotion’s historic U.S. debut – the Yemeni standout will challenge Mikey “Darth Rigatoni” Musumeci for his ONE Flyweight Submission Grappling World Title.
When he enters the Circle at 1stBank Center in Colorado, the man known as “Osa” will be supremely prepared for the task at hand – thanks in large part to his regular training alongside 20-year-old twin phenoms Tye and Kade Ruotolo.
Almarwai has honed his craft with the Ruotolos at the famed Atos Jiu-Jitsu Academy in California since 2019 and has nothing but praise for both of them.
The 31-year-old told ONEFC.com:
“Every single day, they help me. They’re very outgoing. They’re super nice kids. I love training with them.”
Even though they were just teenagers when he first met them, Almarwai recalls being blown away by the brothers’ incredibly advanced skill sets.
After all, Tye – who will also compete at ONE Fight Night 10 – was already taking out world-class black belts at the prestigious ADCC World Championships at just 16 years old.
“Osa” said:
“They helped me so much. Even when they were blue belts. I remember when they joined Atos. They were blue belts. I was like, ‘Man, these kids are good.’ They made me feel bad because I was a brown belt at the time. And man, they were very good.
“And then I remember Tye was doing so well in the ADCC. I don’t feel bad anymore because he beat some top-level black belts. These kids are good.”
Calling them “good” is an understatement.
Both Ruotolos are undefeated in ONE, Kade is the reigning ONE Lightweight Submission Grappling World Champion, and Tye is the youngest-ever IBJJF Black Belt World Champion.
In short, they’re two of the planet’s top pound-for-pound grapplers, and Almarwai is thankful to share the mats with them:
“Yeah, they’ve been doing it since they were, I think, 3 years old. The knowledge they have in jiu-jitsu is like, you ask them about any position, they’ll just give you so much knowledge. It’s amazing. It’s amazing to be around them because they help everyone.”
Osamah Almarwai Also Inspired By Atos Head Coach Andre Galvao
Beyond the Ruotolo twins, Osamah Almarwai is leaning on the teachings of his legendary coach and BJJ icon Andre Galvao.
The Atos head coach knows a thing or two about winning. An eight-time BJJ World Champion, Galvao has built his academy into one of the most dominant teams ever seen in grappling, churning out champions like Almarwai every year.
Given that history, choosing Atos was a no-brainer for “Osa”:
“It’s super hard to produce one Black Belt World Champion. But Galvao was able to make so many Black Belt World Champions. So I know that Galvao had the recipe to make World Champions. All I had to do was just show up and train.”
Almarwai adds that Galvao leads by example, working incredibly hard on a daily basis.
And seeing his coach’s dedication firsthand is motivating him to train even harder for his World Title challenge of Mikey Musumeci on May 5.
The Yemeni grappler said:
“Galvao puts a lot of heart into this. What I notice something different about Atos is that Galvao is there every single day, which I think that’s the reason for Atos’ success. He is there every single day running two competition classes, one at 7 a.m. and the other one at 10:45.
“And he comes again at night, and he teaches us. He’s always there. I think that’s what motivates the competitors. Because if your instructor’s there, you have no excuse not to show up.”
