Kade Ruotolo says MMA fighters have “very old-school” ways of fighting on their back unlike submission grapplers

Having dipped his hands as well in mixed martial arts, ONE lightweight submission grappling world champion Kade Ruotolo believes he has a better understanding now of how most MMA fighters operate, particularly in how they deal with grappling. He said that fighters of the multifaceted sport and those of jiu-jitsu differ in their approaches in most cases.

The 21-year-old Atos standout shared this in an interview with ONE Championship, ahead of his scheduled return to action next month in the United States.

Ruotolo highlighted that MMA fighters are more traditional in how they deal with and employ grappling in their game, unlike their jiu-jitsu counterparts who are more progressive in fighting on their back:

"I'd say most MMA fighters aren't too fond of fighting off their back. And, if they are, it's very old-school, traditional, you know, Lucas Lepri half-guard kind of things to get up."

"You're not really seeing any MMA fighters use those guards that we see on an everyday basis in sport jiu-jitsu... De La Riva and X-guard, and things like that."

Kade Ruotolo made use of what he knows about MMA fighters in his debut back in June at ONE 167. He won by taking the back of opponent Blake Cooper to put him in a nifty rear-naked choke for a first-round submission victory.

Kade Ruotolo swings back to submission grappling in next fight

Following a successful MMA debut in his previous fight, Kade Ruotolo swings back to his traditional lane of submission grappling at ONE 168 in Denver, Colorado, U.S.A., on Sept. 6, where he will defend the lightweight belt.

The California-based champion will take on the challenge of flyweight grappling king Mikey Musumeci in their all-champion title showdown at the event, happening at the Ball Arena in Denver and airing live and for free in U.S. primetime to North American fans with an active Amazon Prime Video subscription.

ONE 168 will mark the fourth time that Kade Ruotolo will defend the ONE lightweight submission grappling world title, which he won in October 2022. His last successful defense came last January over Tommy Langaker by decision in their title rematch.

Musumeci, meanwhile, seeks to become a two-division ONE grappling champion and is climbing three weight divisions higher to see his goal through.

Tickets for ONE 168: Denver are available on Ticketmaster.