ONE Championship wants to know who Kade Ruotolo should defend his ONE lightweight submission grappling world championship against next.
The 20-year-old submission grappling prodigy is undefeated in the Circle thus far, and the promotion is giving fans a glimpse as to why in a highlight shared on Instagram.
“Kade Ruotolo takes 'em DOWN ⬇️ Who should the ONE Lightweight Submission Grappling World Champion defend the throne against NEXT? 👑”
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The above clip comes from ONE on Prime Video 5 in December, where Kade Ruotolo successfully defined his ONE world championship against IBJJF world champion Matheus Gabriel. It was another stellar performance from the California native, who racked up his third-straight win under the ONE Championship banner.
Following his win over Gabriel, Ruoloto called out two other individuals for a potential 2023 showdown:
“I got a couple of names on my mind, if you don’t mind me calling them out. They both start with T’s: Tainan Dalpra and Tommy Langaker. Both of those matchups sound insane. I know both of those guys are signed to ONE.”
Kade Ruotolo will get his wish on June 9. The ONE lightweight submission grappling world champion will put his 26 pounds of gold on the line in a submission grappling showdown with Tommy Langaker. MMA Mania first broke the news, revealing that the pair would match up at ONE Fight Night 11 this summer.
ONE Championship fans are already familiar with Tommy Langaker, having seen the Norwegian BJJ black belt compete inside the Circle on two separate occasions thus far. Making his promotional debut at ONE 160 in August, Langaker earned a unanimous decision victory over Renato Canuto. He followed that up with a submission of Uali Kurzhev in just under three minutes in February.
Amazon Prime Video subscribers in North America can catch every ONE Fight Night event live and for free in U.S. primetime.