Kade Ruotolo says grappling has had a bad reputation with PEDs "since the beginning of time"

Kade Ruotolo knows that the grappling arts have always been plagued by performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) issues long before his time.

The 21-year-old prodigy, who's a lifetime natural athlete, aims to set a precedent and change that tainted culture.

Never been shy about voicing his displeasure for those who take steroids, Ruotolo candidly talked about why PEDs has somewhat been the norm in 'The Gentle Art'.

The reigning ONE lightweight submission grappling world champion told Ariel Helwani during a guest appearance on The MMA Hour:

"I think [the sport] has just been so heavily influenced. Like we never really had [consistent] steroid testing. Even now, they only test the winner of the black belt division at Worlds. So the testing is extremely minimal, therefore, it's almost 99.9 percent of athletes have just been roiding since pretty much the beginning of time."

Kade Ruotolo's gallant stand against PEDs truly makes him the perfect role model to uphold ONE Championship's values of parity and purity in martial arts.

The world's largest martial arts organization routinely tests its athletes, something that the Ruotolo twins, Kade and Tye, certainly appreciate.

Kade Ruotolo takes on fellow anti-doping advocate Mikey Musumeci at ONE 168

Kade Ruotolo is also quite adamant about the negative effects of PEDs on the future generation of jiu-jitsu athletes.

As far as the youngest ADCC world champion is concerned, it's basically a cop-out for those who don't want to do the hard work necessary to become great. He added:

"There's a lot of team owners and gyms and a lot of people, a lot of idols that kids look up to and they basically tell them, 'Hey, if you wanna make it, you gotta hop on the juice.'"

Meanwhile, Ruotolo will do battle next against another prominent figure in the battle against doping, ONE flyweight submission grappling world champion Mikey Musumeci.

This dream showdown will take place in the promotion's United States return at ONE 168: Denver on September 6.

Tickets for ONE 168: Denver at Ball Arena are available via Ticketmaster.

Here's Kade Ruotolo's full interview: