Kade Ruotolo professes his love for MMA: "I've always watched it growing up"

Despite being known as one of the greatest Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioners in the world, Kade Ruotolo has a long-standing love for mixed martial arts.

Ruotolo added another big win to his resume earlier this month, scoring a unanimous decision win over Norwegian standout Tommy Langaker to retain his ONE lightweight submission grappling world championship at ONE Fight Night 11. The victory moved Ruotolo to 4-0 under the ONE Championship banner and further solidified him as one of the best grapplers in the sport.

After dominating jiu-jitsu for years, the 20-year-old submission sensation is ready to strap on the four-ounce gloves and make his mixed martial arts debut before 2023 comes to a close. Speaking to members of the media following his success at ONE Fight Night 11, Ruotolo shared his love for MMA and expressed excitement over his inevitable debut.

“My whole life, I've been in love with MMA. I've always watched it growing up. I'll train here and there, especially as of recently. In the past year, I've been really wanting to make that MMA debut," said Ruotolo.

As for when you can expect to see Kade Ruotolo mix it up in the world of MMA, the ADCC world champion hopes to make it happen before the end of the year. Of course, if it were up to him, he would be back inside the Circle next month, but Ruotolo recognizes that he needs adequate time to prepare and find the right opponent for his first foray into MMA.

Who would you like to see Kade Ruotolo scrap with?

If you missed any of the action, or just want to relive one of the most epic nights in ONE Championship history, the ONE Fight Night 11 replay can be watched anytime on demand via Amazon Prime Video in North America.