"He could be a problem" - Fans believe BJJ megastar Kade Ruotolo can dominate with the best in MMA

After dominating his weight class and becoming the inaugural ONE lightweight submission grappling world champion, Kade Ruotolo made a successful MMA debut last June at ONE 167.

Ruotolo defeated Blake Cooper in their battle inside the sold-out Impact Arena in Bangkok, Thailand, via first-round submission.

The highlights of his impressive performance in his first mixed martial arts outing was featured by ONE Championship in a recent Instagram post:

"Kade Ruotolo is a PROBLEM 😤 Can the BJJ megastar pick up another win in MMA at ONE 169? @ruotolobrothersjiujitsu"

Before the 21-year-old phenom flexed his grappling superiority against his fellow American, Ruotolo also displayed his much-improved striking skills by landing a few solid kicks and punches against Cooper.

This spectacular showing of the Atos representative has hyped up fans, especially users @deanormond29, @antoineallain, @todidanzolovejiujitsu, @t6dnsh, and @rcasi100, who sent their reactions through their comments:

"Striking looking nice. He could be a problem if he fully transitions over in future."

"Dude looks crazy good on the feet too 🔥"

"Im so impressed to this young man so amazing 🔥"

"Punch before the choke was serious business 😂"

"If Kade trains w either Saenchai, Superbon, Rodtang that division is his"

Screenshot of fans' comments

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Kade Rutolo lays down plan on how he can conquer the lightweight MMA division in 2025

The one-half of the famous Ruotolo twins is booked for his second MMA bout on Nov. 8 against Ahmed Mujtaba as part of the ONE 169 card, which will take place inside the iconic Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.

Before he gets his hands with the Pakistani MMA powerhouse, the Califonia native has caught up with MMA Junkie for a recent interview and talked about his path toward possible two-sport world title supremacy:

"This next year, I'm kind of shifting my focus a lot more towards MMA. That's been one of my main goals. I still want to continue to defend my grappling title. I still want to be at the top in jiu-jitsu. But I also want to be at the top in MMA and there's only one way to do that."

See the interview below:

North American viewers with an active Prime Video subscription can watch all the action at ONE 169 on Nov. 8.