"This is a big one for me" - Kade Ruotolo sizes up Francisco Lo challenge at ONE Fight Night 21

Kade Ruotolo knows he has what it takes to claim another dominant win at ONE Fight Night 21, but the American grappling star believes he'll have to dig deep to keep his momentum going.

The ONE lightweight submission grappling world champion collides against Brazilian ground game specialist Francisco Lo in a 180-pound catchweight contest inside the Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in U.S. primetime on April 5.

Having witnessed the Brazilian's mastery on the canvas firsthand outside the global stage and further doing his research via tape, he knows the 6-foot-1 debutant has what it takes to flip the script and leave the Mecca of Muay Thai with an upset.

In an interview with CountFilms TV, Kade Ruotolo was asked whether the Checkmat affiliate would be his hardest test inside the ONE Circle.

He responded:

"Absolutely, yeah. 100 percent. He's tough. This is a big one for me personally as well. I think it's for sure probably my toughest match-up in ONE Championship. I think it's safe to say that."

The Atos athlete added:

"He's got a lot of big wins over high-level competitors, even ADCC veterans, guys like, you know, William Tackett, Oliver Taza, Jacob Couch. So he's very tough.

Watch Kade Ruotolo's full interview here:

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Kade Ruotolo aims to stay perfect at ONE Fight Night 21

Come what may, the divisional king will be eager to continue flying the submission grappling flag high in the world's largest martial arts organization.

Throughout his promotional run, Kade Ruotolo has taken out grapplers from various backgrounds — sambo, wrestling, BJJ, judo, and MMA.

As such, nothing that Lo will threaten with on fight night will be much of a surprise for one of the sport's elite ground game wizards.

He will aim for victory number six to move 6-0 in ONE inside the Thai capital city before potentially eying a transition to MMA next.

ONE Fight Night 21 will broadcast live from the Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in U.S. primetime this Friday, April 5. North American fans with an active Amazon Prime Video subscription can catch the entire card live and for free.

In the headline attraction, Alexis Nicolas challenges two-sport king Regian Eersel for his ONE lightweight kickboxing world championship. In addition, Kade's twin, Tye, defends his welterweight submission grappling gold against Izaak Michell.