Kade Ruotolo says Gordon Ryan would not dare fight him in MMA: “He wouldn’t accept it”

Reigning and undisputed ONE lightweight submission grappling world champion Kade Ruotolo of the United States says longtime rival Gordon Ryan would never fight him in the cage.

Ruotolo recently made his professional mixed martial arts debut early last month at ONE 167 on Prime Video. The 21-year-old American superstar tapped out compatriot Blake Cooper with a rear-naked choke in the very first round, after showcasing a bit of his striking.

The lightweight submission grappling king was impressive in his performance, and feels Ryan would never agree to fight him in MMA.

He said on a guest appearance on the Beasts with Brains podcast with Alex Wendling:

"Gordon is great at what he does, he’s one of the best in the world. I think if you were to put it on a scale of 10, he’s really confident in the jiu-jitsu scene. But I promise you, if we wanted to run a MMA match or whatever the case may be, he wouldn’t accept it. Even a combat jiu-jitsu match, he wouldn’t accept it. I know for a fact. He likes to act tough in the jiu-jitsu scene, he’s twice my size, but I guarantee you he wouldn’t take any real match with me."

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Kade Ruotolo scheduled to put his ONE lightweight submission grappling gold on the line against 'Darth Rigatoni' Mikey Musumeci at ONE 168: Denver

21-year-old BJJ black belt Kade Ruotolo is set defend his ONE lightweight submission grappling world title against his flyweight king 'Darth Rigatoni' Mikey Musumeci at ONE 168: Denver, which broadcasts live from the Ball Arena in Denver, Colorado on Friday, September 6th.

Fans in the United States and Canada can catch all the action live and absolutely free on Amazon Prime Video.

Stay tuned to Sportskeeda MMA for all the news and real-time updates surrounding the event as it happens.