"It felt so good" - Kade Ruotolo pleased to finally get MMA career up and running at ONE 167

ONE lightweight submission grappling world champion Kade Ruotolo fulfilled one of his career goals at ONE 167 this past June when he made his long-awaited MMA debut against Blake Cooper.

During a sit-down interview with Cageside Press, the 21-year-old opened up about his first-ever MMA bout and said:

"It felt so good to go in there and finally make that debut, brush off those cobwebs or whatever."

Watch Kade Ruotolo's full interview below:

The Atos product dazzled fans inside the Impact Arena in Bangkok, Thailand, by throwing head kicks against Cooper, which showed his confidence in his striking early into their scheduled three-round lightweight fixture.

As the fight progressed, Ruotolo dragged the Lion of Judah athlete to the mat and soon locked in a tight rear-naked choke for the first-round submission victory.

This performance improved his record under the ONE banner to a pristine 7-0, while earning his third submission finish on the global stage of the organization.

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Kade Ruotolo primed for colossal world title defense against Mikey Musumeci at ONE 168

Kade Ruotolo will look to stay undefeated when he puts the ONE lightweight submission grappling world championship on the line against Mikey Musumeci at ONE 168: Denver on Sept. 6 inside the Ball Arena.

Blessed with the ability to effortlessly blend in wrestling techniques with his Brazilian jiu-jitsu skills, the San Diego, California native has the physical advantage entering his fourth defense of the lightweight submission grappling crown.

However, 'Darth Rigatoni', who holds the ONE flyweight submission grappling world championship, is as crafty as they come. His uncanny ability to pull off submissions from out of nowhere makes him arguably the most dangerous challenger to Ruotolo's reign.

Tickets for ONE Championship's second-ever live event in the United States are available via Ticketmaster.