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Fans aren’t over Kade Ruotolo’s impressive submission win against Uali Kurzhev.
In May 2022, Ruotolo competed under the ONE Championship banner for the first time as a significant factor in the promotion’s expansion into submission grappling. The American superstar quickly made a name for himself by securing a unanimous decision win against Japanese legend Shinya Aoki.
Five months later, the ADCC world champion returned and faced Uali Kurzhev, a sambo specialist, for the inaugural ONE lightweight submission grappling world title.
Ruotolo took care of business against Kurzhev and submitted him with a heel hook. With the first anniversary of the bout approaching, ONE Championship shared highlights on Instagram of the American’s impressive performance.
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The social media post was captioned:
“Kade Ruotolo put on a SHOW to become the inaugural ONE Lightweight Submission Grappling World Champion 🏆 Who’s next for the young phenom? @ruotolobrothersjiujitsu”
Fans filled the comment section with praise for Ruotolo, including the following people saying:
“Amazing how much pressure he maintained”
“Kade is to slick Fr🔥 and always respectful truly a pillar of modern BJJ”
“This is some of the best I've ever seen and I've been watching for 20 plus years!!”
“The beauty of art they both know the next move of his opponent 🔥”
“Young savage ! What a transition, heart and perseverance.”
“Yes sir! 💪🏽🤙🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽” - Kelly Slater
Since defeating Uali Kurzhev, Kade Ruotolo has stayed active and defended his throne twice. Firstly, the 20-year-old secured a unanimous decision win against Matheus Gabriel in December 2022 at ONE on Prime Video 5.
Six months later, Ruotolo returned for his toughest test against Tommy Langaker, which the American won by unanimous decision.
It’s unclear who will be the next world title challenger for Kade Ruotolo’s belt. Whoever faces Ruotolo in the future will have a tough test to overcome, as the young phenom always shows up ready for a submission grappling battle.
