"It feels good to be home" - Kade Ruotolo ecstatic to be part of ONE's highly-anticipated return to America

Lightweight submission grappling kingpin Kade Ruotolo is eager to represent his home country when ONE Championship touches down in Denver for ONE 168.

The California native is weeks away from defending his lightweight gold against fellow American grappler 'Darth Rigatoni' Mikey Musumeci, in the co-main attraction at the Ball Arena in Denver, Colorado.

Their exciting world title bout has every grappling fan for joy as Musumeci goes up three weight classes above his own to steal Kade Ruotolo's hype train. However, Kade is confident that Musumeci will give him the challenge that he needs to be a better jiu-jitsu stylist.

Moreover, what better place to take care of business than in his backyard in the USA? Speaking to Cageside Press, the 21-year-old superstar said:

"So it feels amazing to be back home in the States, you know? Don't get me wrong, it's a blessing every time we're out there in Asia, you know, I love Asia, I love the places, the people there, but it feels good to be home."

Watch the full interview below:

Ruotolo is currently on a dominant win streak in ONE Championship ever since he joined the ONE roster in early 2022. After defeating big superstars such as Shinya Aoki, Uali Kurzhev, and Tommy Langaker - Mikey Musumeci is not as scary as he seems.

Tickets for ONE 168: Denver are available here, via Ticketmaster.

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"I'm always saying yeah" - Kade Ruotolo says he's never been one to pass up a grappling match with anyone, no matter how big the name

Kade Ruotolo got candid in an interview with Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour when he explained how his dream matchup with Mikey Musumeci came into being.

The lightweight submission grappling kingpin recently put on one of the greatest displays of versatility and fearlessness when he tackled the MMA world with his indelible talents at ONE 167.

So, it was only appropriate to accept a grappling match against a guy who is considered the best pound-for-pound grappler in the world, even if he is three weight classes below him.

Speaking to Helwani about what motivated him to take on the best flyweight grappler in ONE Championship, Kade said:

"I think it was a match that was offered to me a couple of times in the past, and I always said yes. I never declined a match-up so any match-up that they wanna make, I'm always saying yeah."

Watch the clip featuring Kade Ruotolo below: