Kade Ruotolo hopes Ahmed Mujtaba showdown becomes a "real war" for maximum experience 

When Kade Ruotolo made the switch to compete in MMA, the challenge in front of him was a big one but it wasn't daunting. The ONE lightweight submission grappling world champion not only has the passion for learning all the aspects that he will need to compete at the highest level, he lives for the adrenaline rush that comes from it.

Kade Ruotolo isn't the kind of martial artist that is crossing over and looking to play it safe. He was drawn to MMA because he likes getting into fights.

Though his submission skills separate him from the pack, Ruotolo knows that he has much to learn and sometimes, the best way to learn is to experience things in person.

His motivation behind returning at ONE 169 on Nov. 8, where he faces Ahmed Mujtaba in a lightweight MMA tie, was to gain some more invaluable time in the cage before the end of the year.

In a recent interview with MMA Junkie, Kade Ruotolo spoke about why he wants to face adversity before he reaches the elite level:

"I want to gain the experience in the [circle] and that way when, you know, down the line when I'm fighting for the belt and I'm in a real war, I'd already been through some of those scraps for sure."

Watch the full interview below:

---

Kade Ruotolo isn't in this for a quick payday

If Kade Ruotolo wanted to, he could come into every MMA fight and do nothing but look for takedowns so that he can implement his elite grappling game.

Instead, as we saw in his debut at ONE 167 against Blake Cooper, the ONE lightweight submission grappling world champion wants to test himself.

He knows that he has his grappling to fall back on but like any fighter that is young in their career, he wants to use these initial few steps to gain experience and level up fight-by-fight.

The champion is taking things seriously rather than using his specialist skillset as a golden ticket to the top.