“He's an animal” - Kade Ruotolo shares his respect for Uali Kurzhev after their world title showdown

Kade Ruotolo has a massive amount of respect for Uali Kurzhev after the two competed for the ONE lightweight submission grappling world championship at ONE on Prime Video 3.

Uali Kurzhev is a sambo world champion and national judo champion, and he was willing to roll with the youngest ADCC world champion in history under ONE championship’s submission grappling rules, which was closer to Brazilian jiu-jitsu rules than sambo. Kurzhev was willing to enter the lion's den.

The ONE lightweight submission king and grappling phenom Ruotolo finds himself greatly respecting his opponent because he took on such a massive challenge and was aggressive during their bout. In an interview with ONE Championship, he explained:

"I have a massive amount of respect for him just for the fact that he came at me first, with no hesitation, and he's extremely strong. He wasn't turning down from anything, and he wasn't scared at all. So, a lot of respect for him. "

Kurzhev did not freeze, instead, he was ready to throw down. Ruotolo added:

"A lot of competitors, when I get in there with them, they're very hesitant. My brother has nice reactions, they're some of the best out there, I feel like. A lot of people tend to kind of shell up, and he did the opposite. So, you know, massive props to him, he's an animal."

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Kade Ruotolo eyeing MMA debut

Brazilian jiu-jitsu prodigy Kade Ruotolo has had an incredible 2022. He earned the ONE lightweight submission grappling world title and became the youngest ADCC world champion when he bested the 77kg division of the event’s 2022 edition Additionally, he defeated Japanese MMA legend Shinya Aoki in a grappling match in the ONE circle.

According to Ruotolo, he now wants Shinya Aoki in an MMA fight. Speaking in an interview with ONE, he explained:

“I think a very interesting fight would be Shinya Aoki. It would kinda be a cool rematch. He fought me in a grappling bout, MMA would be very intriguing as well. I fought him in my world, it would be really cool to fight him in his world. Maybe next year we can get that going.”

The young grappling phenom is eyeing an MMA debut in ONE Championship after his historic 2022 run. Kade Ruotolo will be taking on a big challenge if he faces the veteran MMA fighter and former ONE lightweight world champion, Shinya Aoki.