“My goal is early next year” - Kade Ruotolo plans to get back to training in MMA for imminent debut

Kade Ruotolo has become the most-talked-about superstar in professional grappling over the last several months.

After becoming the youngest-ever ADCC world champion in September, Ruotolo won the inaugural ONE lightweight submission grappling world championship last Friday at ONE on Prime Video 3. Despite taking over the grappling world at just 19 years old, Kade Ruotolo still has his sights set on crossing over into MMA and trying to take over another sport.

In his post-fight interview after submitting Uali Kurzhev via heel hook, Ruotolo explained whether he is still looking to transition into MMA at some point:

“Guaranteed. I've been working on it a bit more. I kind of had to hit the brakes just for a little bit, I had that huge ADCC tournament and then now this but I'm going to continue working for these hands and my goal is early next year to start mixing it up and have that MMA debut. I'm beyond ecstatic about that as well.”

Alongside his older twin brother Tye, Kade Ruotolo is one of the star pupils coming out of Andre Galvao’s gym. Training under one of the most decorated jiu-jitsu competitors of all time has set them both up to dominate the sport for years to come.

---

Shinya Aoki interested in potential MMA fight with superstar grappler Kade Ruotolo

No.5-ranked lightweight contender Shinya Aoki appears to be open to the idea of facing Kade Ruotolo again following the 19-year-old's world title win last Friday.

The pair met back at ONE 157 in May where the young grappling prodigy edged Aoki in their 10-minute submission grappling bout in a match that signaled a change of guard in the sport. After submitting Uali Kurzhev at ONE on Prime Video 3 to become the ONE lightweight submission grappling champion, Ruotolo once again proved why he is one of the best in the world today.

During the post-fight interview, Ruotolo seemed motivated to run it back with the only opponent he failed to submit in his last six bouts. He even teased that their potential rematch could be under a different rule set:

“I think a very interesting fight would be Shinya Aoki. It would kinda be a cool rematch. He fought me in a grappling bout, MMA would be very intriguing as well. I fought him in my world, it would be really cool to fight him in his world. Maybe next year we can get that going.”

Not one to back down from any challenge, Aoki later tweeted his response to Ruotolo's comments. The Japanese martial arts legend replied to a video of Kade’s interview on Twitter:

With Ruotolo also talking about his wish to transition into MMA next year, a rematch with Aoki would make perfect sense.