Facebook and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg congratulates Kade Ruotolo on world title win

Kade Ruotolo’s world title victory over Uali Kurzhev certainly captured the imagination of the martial arts world, including one of the richest men on the planet.

Ruotolo made history this past weekend when his submission win over Kurzhev made him the inaugural ONE lightweight submission grappling world champion at ONE on Prime Video 3 at Axiata Arena in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Facebook and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg took notice of Ruotolo’s triumph and congratulated the young grappler on social media. Zuckerberg jumped on the comments section of Kade Ruotolo’s post and wrote:

“Congrats! That was a dominant performance 👏👏.”

The multi-billionaire has been training in mixed martial arts for some time now and has seen his fair share of submission grappling over the past few months. Zuckerberg also recently congratulated Mikey Musumeci when he beat Cleber Sousa for the inaugural ONE flyweight submission grappling world title at ONE on Prime Video 2.

Ruotolo’s victory, meanwhile, is another chapter in his unprecedented ascent in martial arts. The 19-year-old was barely a month removed from becoming the 77-kilogram world champion in the ADCC when he made his way back to the Circle and grappled against Kurzhev.

The matchup between the two submission experts pitted two of the best fighters from Brazilian jiu-jitsu and sambo against each other. Kurzhev, a four-time sambo world champion, wasted no time in implementing his aggressive style but Ruotolo’s creativity ultimately prevailed in the match.

Ruotolo, a BJJ black belt, methodically dissected Kurzhev’s game before locking in a tight heel hook for the submission win.

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Kade Ruotolo says Kurzhev let heel “pop multiple times”

There was a lot of pride at stake during the world title fight between Kade Ruotolo and Uali Kurzhev at ONE on Prime Video 3.

The fight wasn’t just for the inaugural ONE lightweight submission grappling world title, it was also a monumental fight between BJJ and sambo. With so much on the line, the two fighters knew that they'd both leave the Circle in a much different state than when they went in.

While Ruotolo left the cage with the belt on his shoulder, Kurzhev didn’t fare too well. In his post-fight interview, Kade Ruotolo said that he heard Kurzhev’s heel pop multiple times before the Russian tapped out to the hold:

“Man, props to him. He’s so tough. He let it pop multiple times. It was kind of nasty. I made sure to check up on him, and made sure he was good. But man, he’s a stud. He’s an absolute monster, for sure. That foot sweep, in the beginning, caught me by surprise, I wasn’t ready for that. Legend.”