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Brazilian jiu-jitsu phenom Kade Ruotolo is aware that submission grappling is still a niche sport that more often than not caters to a specific part of the martial arts fanbase.
Though the sport is slowly gaining a global following, the ONE lightweight submission grappling world champion feels that ONE Championship is helping push the discipline at a rapid pace.
Ruotolo, who also owns an ADCC world title, shared his excitement with ONE Championship’s ruleset, especially with its emphasis on action and aggression.
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In an interview with the promotion, Ruotolo said:
“Yeah. I think what makes ONE grappling matches so different, so exciting, is the fact that you know, they're constantly on the action for stalling, you know, constantly giving, stalling calls. And, you know, they're not letting any stalemates happen in the match, which happens a lot in this sport.”
ONE Championship has shone a tremendous spotlight on submission grappling for the past couple of years and already created two world titles in the sport for the lightweight and flyweight divisions.
Ruotolo holds the lightweight gold while Mikey Musumeci owns the ONE flyweight submission grappling world title. Both Ruotolo and Musumeci are also the inaugural winners of their respective belts.
Since ONE Championship puts a heavy priority on keeping the action going, Ruotolo used that nuance to the best of his abilities. The 20-year-old is a hyper-athletic fighter who has combined punishing wrestling with his phenomenal jiu-jitsu to carve a perfect 3-0 record in the circle.
Ruotolo made his ONE Championship debut in May 2022 against Japanese legend Shinya Aoki. He grabbed the ONE lightweight submission grappling world championship when he submitted Sambo world champion Uali Kurzhev at ONE on Prime Video 3 and has since defended the gold against Matheus Gabriel at ONE on Prime Video 5 in December 2022.
Ruotolo is set to defend the strap for the second time when he faces Tommy Langaker at ONE Fight Night 11: Eersel vs. Menshikov on June 9 at the iconic Lumpinee Boxing Stadium.
ONE Fight Night 11 is available live and for free to all Prime Video subscribers in North America.
