“He’s going to be tough” - Kade Ruotolo explains the threat that Uali Kurzhev brings with his Sambo background

Kade Ruotolo has made history once already this year after becoming the youngest ever ADCC world champion. He’ll have the chance to do it once again as he enters the Circle for ONE on Prime Video 3 on Friday night. Standing in his way will be sambo specialist Uali Kurzhev as the two battle it out to crown the inaugural ONE lightweight submission grappling world champion.

Mere hours before the biggest grappling bout of his career, Ruotolo sat down with ONE Championship to discuss the upcoming match and the dangers of taking on a sambo standout like the debuting Kurzhev:

“I’m hearing that he is one of the greats. He’s a Sambo World Champion. So I know he’s a stud, and I know he’s going to be tough.”

Kade Ruotolo elaborated on his comments, believing that the biggest challenge will be getting a takedown against the two-time judo gold medalist:

“Sambo guys, in general, they have a very strong wrestling background, usually. And they have very strong upper-body wrestling. They have good picks, inside trips, things like that. I love to try and take down, stay on top, and get the submission, so I think there will definitely be a clash of styles on the feet.”

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Kade Ruotolo looks to join Mikey Musumeci as ONE’s first submission grappling champions

Should Kade Ruotolo pass his next test on U.S. primetime, he’ll join fan-favorite Mikey Musumeci as one of the first two submission grappling world champions in ONE Championship. ‘Darth Rigatoni’ made history by becoming the first fighter to hold a ONE submission grappling title with a brilliant performance against rival Cleber Sousa at ONE on Prime Video 2 last month.

Continuing his conversation with ONE, Ruotolo says that Musumeci’s victory in September was an inspiring moment, one he hopes to replicate for himself against a formidable Russian adversary:

“Seeing Mikey’s [Musumeci] match and seeing him get the belt, that was super inspiring to me. I’m looking to do the same.”

Of course, Musumeci wasn’t the only one to make waves in the world of Brazilian jiu-jitsu this past September. Kade Ruotolo became the youngest ADCC Submission Fighting World Champion at just 19 years old, submitting every one of his opponents along the way. It was a performance that even Musumeci had to acknowledge, saying it blew him away.

Will Ruotolo stand with Musumeci as the kings of ONE submission grappling or will the Russian sambo champion be too much for the young BJJ prodigy?