“I could have been a little sharper on the feet” - Kade Ruotolo grades himself in debut MMA performance

Kade Ruotolo marked his impressive debut with a signature submission win against Blake Cooper at ONE 167 last weekend. The BJJ prodigy clearly felt some jitters at first, but he managed to secure the 'W' after trading strikes with a game Cooper.

The grappling specialist is now already excited about what comes next.

But first, he acknowledged his own abilities when speaking in the post-match promo after submitting his rival in the first round:

"I feel amazing! It just feels so good to make that debut."

He continued:

"To be entirely honest, I’m a tiny bit rusty on the striking, I was feeling amazing in practice, and that debut energy - that nervous energy - i feel like I could have been a little sharper on the feet, but yeah, I’m feeling great"

The 21-year-old showed a remarkable effort in the opening moments of his MMA debut. Nonetheless, with the submission at the end, he's already eyeing for something else in the future.

But first, he will have to face fellow American superstar Mikey Musumeci to defend his ONE lightweight submission grappling belt at ONE 168: Denver on Sept. 6.

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"I love fighting, I'm a fighter" - Kade Ruotolo shares why he moved to MMA

In multiple occasions, Kade Ruotolo has mentioned that he will finally move to mixed martial arts, and this was not unplanned.

Ruotolo shared his thoughts of becoming a two-sport superstar to MMA legend and fellow ONE world champion Demetrious Johnson in an interview.

Speaking to Johnson in an episode of Johnson's MightyCast, Ruotolo said:

"I honestly think I fought so many times for free with my brother, I wanna get paid now! I love fighting, I'm a fighter. I love jiu-jitsu, but I just don't feel like it's a fight. It's a match, it's not a fight."

See the interview below: