Kade Ruotolo credits surfing and swimming for allowing him to stay calm under pressure

Kade Ruotolo credits his love of being in the water with helping him to deal with high-pressure situations in jiu-jitsu.

Ruotolo, the reigning ONE lightweight submission grappling world champion, is set to defend his world title this Friday night when ONE Championship returns to the legendary Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Thailand for ONE Fight Night 11 on Prime Video.

The 20-year-old grappling prodigy will put his world title on the line in the evening’s co-main event as he is set to square off with Norwegian vet Tommy Langaker.

Days before his return to action Kade Ruotolo spoke with ONE Championship to talk about competing in high-pressure situations. During the conversation, Ruotolo revealed how surfing and swimming have helped him to stay calm when things get a bit overwhelming on the mat.

“When [Andre] Galvao is smashing, if I’m in a position where I’m pinned, I can just tap. Underwater, there’s no tapping,” Ruotolo said.

The ADCC world champion still holds a perfect record under the ONE Championship banner, having bested Shinya Aoki, four-time Sambo world champion Uali Kurzhev, and IBJJF world champion Matheus Gabriel. He’ll look to continue the winning momentum as he faces perhaps his toughest competition yet in Tommy Langaker.

Langaker has an impressive 121 wins to his credit, including back-to-back victories inside the Circle against Renato Canuto and Kurzhev. Those victories have secured him an opportunity to become a ONE world champion for the first time in his career.

Will Tommy Langaker capitalize on the moment and leave Bangkok a ONE world champion or will Kade Ruotolo continue his reign of dominance over the division and the jiu-jitsu in general?

Amazon Prime Video subscribers in North America can catch ONE Fight Night 11 live and for free in U.S. primetime on June 9.