“It's nice to see him transitioning” - Christian Lee says Kade Ruotolo is now a true martial artist after MMA move

After moving from grappling to MMA, two-division king Christian Lee thinks Kade Ruotolo is now a true martial artist.

Making his promotional debut in 2022, Ruotolo quickly became one of ONE Championship's biggest stars with his dominant performances on the mat. Before long, the Atos Jiu-Jitsu product made history, becoming ONE's first-ever lightweight submission grappling world champion.

Ready for a new challenge, Ruotolo made the move to MMA in June, strapping on the four-ounce gloves for a clash with Blake Cooper at ONE 167. After scoring a quick-fire submission victory over Cooper at the event, Ruotolo turned right around for another go in MMA — this time against former Pakistani MMA champion Ahmed Mujtaba at ONE 169 in Bangkok.

It was another impressive showing for Ruotolo, who blasted Mujtaba with a booming right hand before securing his second-straight submission victory in MMA.

Offering his take on Ruotolo's impressive transition, Lee suggested that the grappling star is now a full-fledged mixed martial artist.

"I think that he's a good fighter and he's a great grappler as well," Lee said on The Brian Campbell Experience. "So it's nice to see him transitioning over from just being a grappler to now being the complete fighter, a mixed martial artist."

---

Christian Lee puts his lightweight MMA gold on the line in long-awaited return at ONE Fight Night 26

After almost two years on the shelf, Christian Lee will make his long-awaited return to action on Friday night, December 6, when ONE Championship heads back to the legendary Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok for a loaded ONE Fight Night 26 card on Amazon Prime Video.

In the main event of the evening, 'The Warrior' will put his ONE lightweight MMA world championship on the line against undefeated Turkish standout Alibeg Rasulov.

It will be Lee's first time competing since scoring an epic come-from-behind knockout against Kiamrian Abbasov to add the ONE welterweight MMA world title to his collection in November 2022.

In the meantime, Rasulov has established himself as the next man in line for a shot at the lightweight crown via a dominant decision victory over former ONE world champion Ok Rae Yoon at ONE Fight Night 23 in July.

Fans in the United States and Canada can watch ONE Fight Night 26 live on Amazon Prime Video on Friday, December 6 in U.S. primetime.