“I’m comfortable striking” - Kade Ruotolo confident his Muay Thai and kickboxing continue to improve ahead of MMA debut

Questions were bound to arise when Kade Ruotolo announced his intention to jump into MMA.

There was no doubt the ONE lightweight submission grappling world champion would be lethal on the ground, but critics pointed out his abilities on the feet.

In an interview with ONE Championship, Ruotolo said he's in no way in the same league as the legendary Mike Tyson or ONE flyweight kickboxing world champion Superlek Kiatmoo9.

Ruotolo, however, said he will have sufficient striking when he faces Blake Cooper in a lightweight match at ONE 167 on June 7 at Impact Arena.

"I'm no Mike Tyson or Superlek. I'm not quite there yet, but every day I'm getting better and pushing my hands. The main thing is I'm comfortable striking."

Ruotolo is a generation Brazilian jiu-jitsu artist who owns the ONE lightweight submission grappling world title and a 2022 ADCC world championship.

Despite his stacked trophy cabinet, the 21-year-old craved different challenges and a move to MMA would give that satisfaction.

Kade Ruotolo and his twin brother ONE welterweight submission grappling world champion Tye have always wanted to learn the striking arts, and they took it upon themselves to seek out the best teachers possible.

The twin world champions once trained with ONE interim featherweight kickboxing world champion Superbon in Bangkok and it's not farfetched that the trio once again shared ideas at Superbon Training Camp this past weekend.

Superbon headlined ONE Friday Fights 58 with his interim world title win over Marat Grigorian, while the twins were part of the stacked ONE Fight Night 21 card just a few hours later at Lumpinee Boxing Stadium.

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Kade Ruotolo says he's unafraid to take hits

Kade Ruotolo doesn't just want to throw hands, he's also prepared to get them.

In the same interview with the promotion, the American star said he's unafraid to trade leather when he faces Cooper in Bangkok:

"I'm not too scared of punches, which is usually the biggest barrier to overcome."

ONE 167 is available live and free to all Prime Video subscribers in the United States and Canada.