Kade Ruotolo believes he can match Uali Kurzhev’s wrestling; offers prediction on how he will end the match

The submission grappling match between Kade Ruotolo and Uali Kurzhev is set to be a clash of styles, with both fighters ready to demonstrate the superiority of their respective martial arts backgrounds.

Ruotolo and Kurzhev will contest for the right to be called the inaugural ONE lightweight submission grappling world champion at ONE on Prime Video 3 this Friday at Axiata Arena in Kuala Lumpur.

Kurzhev is a four-time sambo world champion and is seen as one of the top fighters in the discipline. Ruotolo, meanwhile, is a Brazilian jiu-jitsu phenom who recently captured the 77-kg division gold at the 2022 ADCC World Championships. Ruotolo is well-aware of Kurzhev’s credentials and technique, but he’s confident that his technicality and creativity as a BJJ black belt will lead him to ONE Championship gold.

In an interview with ONE Championship, Kade Ruotolo said that Kurzhev will use his aggressive wrestling style in bringing the fight down to the mat. The 19-year-old believes that it’s that aggression that would ultimately lead to Kurzhev’s downfall in their world title match.

“Prediction-wise, he’s going to come at me with some good wrestling, and I’m going to come at him with the same. I wouldn’t be surprised if I get him in a front headlock, D’Arce [choke], or something like that. If that doesn’t work, I think I’ll probably end up looking for those legs.”

Ruotolo is one of the most creative submission grapplers of his generation and his innovative techniques have helped push him to the top of the sport. His ONE Championship debut saw him run circles around Japanese legend Shinya Aoki to take the unanimous decision win.

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Kade Ruotolo hyped for Uali Kurzhev’s style ahead of world title match

Just like any other competitor, Kade Ruotolo is always looking for that next challenge and he’ll find it when he gets locked in the circle with Uali Kurzhev at ONE on Prime Video 3. Ruotolo is known as an artistic and creative fighter while Kurzhev’s sambo background presents him as a marauding force who uses strong takedown techniques in his fights.

Nevertheless, Ruotolo is looking forward to what he calls an interesting matchup between the two grappling arts. In the ONE on Prime Video 3 virtual press conference, Kade Ruotolo said:

“Someone left a comment on my last Instagram post: ‘If Sambo was easy, it would be called Jiu-Jitsu.’ So these matches [jiu-jitsu vs. sambo] are really cool, we can merge the two styles. Sambo guys have great takedowns and leg locks, so it’ll be fun to figure out his style. But I believe in BJJ, we have a few more moves, more options, so it’ll be an interesting matchup."