“I don’t want to leave grappling aside” - Kade Ruotolo vows to continue defending his submission grappling belt while he pursues MMA

ONE lightweight submission grappling world champion Kade Ruotolo will make his third straight MMA foray in his scheduled match this week. He, however, reiterated that he remains committed to his grappling campaign and intends to hold on to his championship belt as long as he can.

The 22-year-old Atos standout is to battle ONE newcomer Nicolas Vigna of Argentina in a lightweight MMA clash at ONE 171: Qatar on Feb. 20. It is part of the marquee event happening at the Lusail Sports Arena in Lusail and marks the return of the promotion to the emirate for the second straight year.

In an interview with combat sports journalist Nick Atkin of the Bangkok Post, Ruotolo repeated his desire to concurrently compete in submission grappling and MMA, stressing both are his priorities at this point of his martial arts journey.

He said:

"Definitely not going to stay on hold, I’ve got the grappling strap, and I’ve got to defend that right? That’s always the goal. I definitely don’t want to leave grappling aside. It’s always going to be right up there with MMA. I don’t want to leave one sport for the other. "

Watch the interview below:

Kade Ruotolo has had a successful MMA campaign so far in ONE, winning his first two matches in impressive fashion.

He made his debut in the multi-faceted sport in June last year, making short work of fellow American Blake Cooper with a first-round submission (rear-naked choke) victory. His second win came last November, another opening-round submission (D'Arce choke) win over Pakistani Ahmed Mujtaba.

For more information on ONE 171: Qatar, check out onefc.com.

Kade Ruotolo remains undefeated as ONE lightweight submission grappling world champion

Kade Ruotolo cannot be faulted for choosing to continue competing in submission grappling in ONE Championship where he has achieved a lot of success, including being the promotion's undefeated lightweight champion.

The grappling ace became world champion in October 2022, claiming the inaugural ONE lightweight submission grappling world title with a submission of Russian Uali Kurzhev.

He has had three successful title defenses since, the most recent in January last year, defeating Norwegian challenger Tommy Langaker for the second time by decision.

Ruotolo also has an unblemished 6-0 record in submission grappling in ONE Championship while also earning a number performance bonuses along the way.