"Anyone can get hit by a solid punch" - Kade Ruotolo admits being wary of striking exchanges in his MMA debut

Kade Ruotolo is not afraid to take on risky challenges and put himself in the firing line. His love of fighting and its unpredictability gravitated him towards pursuing a career in MMA.

That being said, getting off to a strong start in his transition meant that he felt the pressure to some degree at ONE 167. Ruotolo faced Blake Cooper at the Impact Arena, and he secured a submission win in the opening round.

At the start of the fight, Ruotolo utilized some of his striking skills, but as he said himself, things weren't particularly clicking for him.

His elite jiu-jitsu pedigree was always going to be a problem for his opponent but the lightweight submission grappling world champion did have some reservations about rushing to get the fight to the ground.

In a recent interview with Cageside Press, he spoke about a scenario in his head that gave him some cause for concern heading into this fight:

"The strategy there, you know, like Blake is actually a really good wrestler. He's been wrestling for so much of his life, you know. That was one of the worries I had - what if I couldn't get it to the ground? What if he was able to hit some solid wrestling defense and we were plugging away? You know, anyone can get hit by a solid punch."

Watch the full interview below:

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Kade Ruotolo was able to pass this test with flying colors

There were certainly some clear aspects of his game for Kade Ruotolo to go away and work on after his pro-MMA debut. His submission skills were on lock, as always, but he will eventually learn to be more comfortable in the striking exchanges.

For now, his focus shifts back towards grappling before he starts to make MMA more of a priority. He will return at ONE 168 on September 6 to defend his lightweight submission grappling crown in a super fight against Mikey Musumeci.

Tickets for ONE 168: Denver are available via Ticketmaster.