“Everyone has different skill sets and levels” - Kade Ruotolo believes the BJJ vs. sambo debate is far from finished

Kade Ruotolo’s recent world title triumph was considered an instrumental win for Brazilian jiu-jitsu. However, the young grappler believes the debate with sambo is far from over.

The 19-year-old became the inaugural ONE lightweight submission grappling world champion when he submitted sambo star Uali Kurzhev at ONE on Prime Video 3. The event went down this past weekend at the Axiata Arena in Kuala Lumpur.

BJJ and sambo have been in an ongoing feud for the past several years now. Despite his win, Ruotolo knows that the rivalry between the two sports won’t be settled any time soon.

In his post-fight interview after ONE on Prime Video 3, Ruotolo acknowledged that BJJ has the upper hand in ONE Championship. However, on the broader spectrum, the two grappling disciplines are still in a stalemate.

Kade Ruotolo said:

"Yeah, man, that's at least in the circle, I'd say just for now right, guaranteed. That was definitely more of my field out there and more of my game, the grappling format. It's kind of hard to say, everyone's different. There are definitely different sambo guys out there, different jiu-jitsu guys, everyone has different skill sets and levels. But at least between me and him, maybe.”

Ruotolo was the premiere representative of BJJ during his match against Kurzhev at ONE on Prime Video 3. The American grappler showcased an incredible level of creativity that even a four-time sambo world champion such as Kurzhev struggled with.

Though Kurzhev tried his aggressive wrestling style to subdue Ruotolo, the Atos fighter found a way to turn things in his favor. Methodically isolating Kurzhev’s right leg, Ruotolo slowly grabbed hold of the Russian’s foot and lock in a tight heel hook for the submission finish.

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Kade Ruotolo calls out Tainan Dalpra and Tommy Langaker

Waiting isn’t on Kade Ruotolo’s agenda.

Mere minutes after he grabbed hold of the ONE lightweight submission grappling world title, Ruotolo challenged Tainan Dalpra and Tommy Langaker as potential challengers in his budding world title reign.

Ruotolo, who’s also the 77-kilogram world champion in the ADCC, said during his in-cage interview with Mitch Chilson that he would like to face either Dalpra or Langaker before the year ends.

“The sooner we can get back in here, in the circle, the better. You know, I want to go ahead and defend my title ASAP. I got a couple of names on my mind, if you don’t mind me calling them out. They both start with T’s: Tainan Dalpra and Tommy Langaker. Both of those matchups sound insane. I know both of those guys are signed to ONE. If we could get it going toward the end of the year, I would love those matches, for sure. We need to get it going," said Kade Ruotolo.