After coming up short of a submission against Tommy Langaker during their first meeting in June 2023 at ONE Fight Night 11, reigning ONE lightweight submission grappling world champion Kade Ruotolo plans to finish his challenger in their second match.
The pair will run it back in the co-main event of ONE 165 on January 28, which will happen inside the Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Japan.
In a recent interview with ONE Championship ahead of their world championship rematch, Ruotolo revealed his goal of not only reasserting his mastery over his Norwegian rival but also forcing a tap out of him.
One half of the famous Ruotolo twins stated:
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“The next time we fight, I’m going to submit him. I know it’s kind of a simple answer, maybe a bit boring. But to be honest, that’s the honest-to-God truth.”
The Atos representative was first challenged by the Wulfing Academy-affiliated athlete in June 2023 at ONE Fight Night 11. He got away with a unanimous decision nod from the judges. However, he was never satisfied with that victory because he failed to get a finish.
Prior to that victory over Langaker, Kade collected three wins against former ONE lightweight MMA world champion Shinya Aoki for his debut, Uali Kurzhev to become the inaugural ONE lightweight submission grappling world champion, and Matheus Gabriel for his first world title defense.
Kade Ruotolo shoots for his fifth win in ONE Championship against Tommy Langeker
If the 21-year-old American gets the job done against Langaker for the second time around, it will be his fifth victory in the world’s largest martial arts organization and his third straight world title defense since arriving in the promotion in May 2022.
Once successful in his latest world title defense, Kade would want to explore more opportunities for him in another weight class or cross over to MMA and fight in the sport since he already started his striking training via boxing.
ONE 165 is available on pay-per-view at watch.onefc.com.