Kade Ruotolo keen to test himself vs fellow undefeated MMA prospect Adrian Lee: "A super interesting matchup"

ONE lightweight submission grappling world champion Kade Ruotolo thinks it's about time he squares off against one of MMA's hottest prospects on martial arts' biggest stage.

The Atos representative enjoyed a usual day in the office at ONE 171: Qatar against Argentinian sensation Nicolas Vigna to move to 3-0 in his budding MMA career.

As he had done across his past two appearances in the discipline, Ruotolo relied on his ground game acumen to get the job done against the debutant on his way to another US$50,000 performance bonus inside the Lusail Sports Arena.

Ruotolo, of course, isn't the only athlete in the lightweight division who's been attracting headlines since he swapped his rash guard for the four-ounce gloves.

Another young talent, Adrian Lee – younger brother to two-division MMA world champion Christian Lee – has put the division on notice with a pair of submission wins.

With that in mind, Bangkok Post's Nick Atkin raised the possibility of the two coming together inside the Circle during a post-fight interview in Qatar.

Ruotolo revealed that he's more than game to make that happen while admitting that it would be an intriguing matchup. The Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt shared:

"Absolutely. I think that's a super interesting matchup. I think, obviously, we're the same weight, two up-and-comers. So I think that's one that a lot of people are going to want to see."

Prior to his scintillating tap-out win over Vigna, Ruotolo finished Blake Cooper in his MMA debut via rear-naked choke and registered a D'Arce choke finish of Blake Cooper. Both victories came in round one.

Lee, on the other hand, holds a 2-0 record. The Prodigy Training Center tapped Italian-based Australian Antonio Mammarella and American standout Nico Cornejo with a pair of rear-naked chokes.

Watch his full interview with Bangkok Post here:

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Kade Ruotolo says he will prioritize MMA over submission grappling

It's MMA over submission grappling for Kade Ruotolo now.

The American fighter knows he cannot look past his responsibility as a ONE world champion, though.

But if given the choice, Kade Ruotolo told Circle-side color commentator Mitch Chilson inside the Lusail Sports Arena last week that MMA is where his heart is at:

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

Catch Ruotolo's submission win and the entire ONE 171: Qatar card via replay at watch.onefc.com.