Kade Ruotolo reveals he wants to make MMA transition more than twin brother Tye

ONE lightweight submission grappling world champion Kade Ruotolo said he and his twin brother Tye are still keen on jumping to mixed martial arts at some point, but thinks he will be the first one to make the transition.

Speaking to the South China Morning Post ahead of his most recent outing at ONE Fight Night 11 on Prime Video on June 9 in Bangkok, Kade Ruotolo said he is more on track with their MMA push, with Tye Ruotolo still needing to complete some unfinished business in grappling.

Kade Ruotolo said:

“To be honest, I think I want to do it more than him [Tye]. I think I've been pushing to make that debut quicker than him. You know, he wants to do it as well. I think he definitely has a couple of people that he wants to take out like [Nicholas] Meregali and Gordon [Ryan], he really wants to beat those two guys before he makes that full transition.”

The Ruotolo brothers are looking to venture as well in MMA as part of their push to continue to evolve as fighters. They have been sharpening their MMA skills with full support from their team at Atos Jiu-Jitsu in San Diego.

As he prepares for his MMA transition, which he is eyeing to do by the end of the year, Kade Ruotolo continues to dominate the lightweight submission grappling division.

At ONE Fight Night 11, played at the famed Lumpinee Boxing Stadium, he successfully defended his title against Norwegian challenger Tommy Langaker by way of a hard-earned unanimous decision victory.

It was Kade Ruotolo’s second successful defense of the world title he won last October.

Tye Ruotolo, meanwhile, was last in action in May at ONE Championship’s first live on-ground in the United States, where he defeated ONE middleweight world champion Reinier de Ridder by unanimous decision in their submission grappling superfight.

Replay of ONE Fight Night 11 is available for free via Amazon Prime in North America.