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After a successful mixed martial arts debut at ONE 167, Kade Ruotolo is chomping at the bit to get right back inside the Circle for another dance in the all-encompassing discipline.
After dominating the world of BJJ and claiming the ONE lightweight submission grappling world championship, Ruotolo left his 26 pounds of gold at home, dawning a pair of four-ounce gloves for an MMA scrap with American standout Blake Cooper in a lightweight MMA clash at ONE 167.
Though Kade Ruotolo looked a little uncertain on the feet, he promptly took over once the fight hit the mat, securing a submission victory via rear-naked choke just past the three-minute mark of the opening round.
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Appearing at the ONE 167 post-fight press conference, Ruotolo revealed that he was already itching to get back to work, saying:
"To be honest, I’m so urging to get right back to the MMA realm, to be honest with you. I had so much fun out there tonight, I feel like if I was to go out and do it again, I honestly wanted to go back out and do it again."
If you missed any of the action, ONE Championship fans in the United States and Canada can watch the ONE 167 replay on demand via Amazon Prime Video.
Kade Ruotolo returns for a massive grappling showdown with Mikey Musumeci at ONE 168
As much as Kade Ruotolo wants to get back to the world of MMA, he'll have to put that on hold for a minute as he prepares for the biggest submission grappling match in ONE Championship history.
On Friday, September 6, Ruotolo will return to the mat set to defend his ONE lightweight submission grappling world title against arguably the best BJJ practitioner today, Mikey Musumeci, at ONE 168: Denver.
'Darth Rigatoni' will be moving up three weight classes from his post at flyweight where he currently sits as the ONE flyweight submission grappling world champ.
If he managed to hand Ruotolo his first loss under the ONE Championship banner, he would etch his name in the history books as the promotion's first two-division grappling world champion.
Follow this link for tickets for ONE 168: Denver on September 6 at Ball Arena.
