Kade Ruotolo reveals he worked with Cub Swanson in his MMA training

Kade Ruotolo has been putting in the work for his potential move into mixed martial arts by the end of 2023.

The reigning ONE lightweight submission grappling world champion recently retained his gold against Tommy Langaker in the co-main event of ONE Fight Night 11 this past weekend.

In his post-fight interview with South China Morning Post, Ruotolo revealed that he’s worked with UFC veteran Cub Swanson in his gym in California.

Swanson, who’s attained some sort of cult following in his career, is one of the most entertaining fighters of his generation and owns a professional record of 28-13.

Ruotolo added that he’s been mixing it up with different gyms trying to get what works best for him and his skill set.

“I was training a bit with Cub Swanson, those guys down in Costa Mesa. So I'm kind of getting a bit from different places and trying to see what I fit in the most with and then see who's going to really help and who would bring me to that debut confidently.”

While he’s been working tirelessly for an MMA debut, Ruotolo is still fully committed to his submission grappling.

The inaugural ONE lightweight submission grappling world champion is undefeated in ONE Championship and his win over Langaker pushed his promotional record to 4-0.

While it didn’t end in a submission, the match between Langaker and Ruotolo at the iconic Lumpinee Boxing Stadium showed just how tenacious the American grappler is.

Ruotolo was initially down on the scorecards after Langaker secured the first submission catch of the fight. Nevertheless, Ruotolo came fighting back and slapped in an Estima lock in the final minutes of the bout.

That clutch submission catch and his overall aggression ultimately pushed Ruotolo over the judges’ scorecards for the unanimous decision win.

Watch Ruotolo's entire interview below: