Kade Ruotolo declares full dedication to MMA career after latest win at ONE 171: “It’s what I want”

Kade Ruotolo revealed he will prioritize mixed martial arts over submission grappling.

At ONE 171: Qatar, Ruotolo opened the event with the third fight in his professional MMA journey.

The reigning ONE lightweight submission grappling world champion continued his reign of terror with a third consecutive first-round submission.

Following his impressive performance, Ruotolo talked to Mitch Chilson in an in-ring post-fight interview and had this to say about what's next:

"I definitely want to defend my grappling title here. I got the belt, and I definitely need to defend it. But, if I’m being a hundred percent honest, MMA is in my heart a hundred percent, and it’s what I want."

Kade Ruotolo became the inaugural ONE lightweight submission grappling world champion with a win against Uali Kurzhev in October 2022.

Ruotolo has since defended his throne against Matheus Gabriel and Tommy Langaker twice, with the latest in January 2024.

The American superstar also defeated Francisco Lo in a non-title grappling bout in April 2024, extending his promotional record in the sport to 6-0.

Following ONE 171, Ruotolo will likely defend his submission grappling crown before continuing his pursuit of Christian Lee's MMA world title.

Watch Ruotolo's submission finish against Nicolas Vigna at ONE 171 below:

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Kade Ruotolo earns one of five $50,000 performance bonuses at ONE 171

Kade Ruotolo started ONE 171: Qatar with a submission finish worthy of a $50,000 performance bonus from ONE Chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong.

In the next fight, Ayaka Miura secured a similar result in her women's atomweight MMA bout against Ritu Phogat.

Miura ended the fight with a first-round kneebar, leading to Sityodtong awarding her a $50,000 bonus for her high-level grappling showcase.

Next up was Shamil Erdogan and Roberto Soldic, who produced respective first-round highlight-reel knockouts for an added $50,000.

Lastly, Joshua Pacio ended the night with a strawweight MMA unification world title bout against Jarred Brooks.

Pacio overcame the early onslaught from Brooks and won the trilogy bout with a second-round TKO, earning the last performance bonus of the night.

The replay of ONE 171: Qatar, including the five previously mentioned performance bonus-winning finishes, can be seen for free via YouTube.