“It fired me up more” - Kade Ruotolo says "rough" MMA-like approach by Uali Kurzhev helped inspire him to win

Kade Ruotolo has commented on Uali Kurzhev’s MMA-like approach at ONE on Prime Video 3.

The jiu-jitsu vs. sambo rivalry is intriguing, especially considering some forms of sambo allow striking. Ruotolo learned that the hard way when Kurzhev came out aggressive, looking to rattle the young jiu-jitsu phenom.

When asked about the Russian’s rough approach, the inaugural ONE lightweight submission grappling world champion had this to say:

“He came at me hot, he came at me rough. It wasn't intimidating too much to me at all. Every time someone comes at me with an energy that hot, I know there's going to be a down crash. You can't keep that same pace for 10 minutes. And especially, when he got a couple of hands [in and] he hit me open, it was just firing me up more.”

Ruotolo continued by saying:

“I was just getting more stoked. I've competed in combat jiu-jitsu before with the open-palm hand strikes, and I got the belt in that as well. So I'm definitely no stranger to some open-hand slaps or anything like that. It didn't really bother me at all. If anything, it fired me up more…”

Ruotolo overcame Kurzhev’s aggressiveness and scored a heel-hook finish in under five minutes. The jiu-jitsu superstar remaining calm while getting roughed up could be a precursor to his inevitable MMA debut.

Watch Kade Ruotolo become the inaugural ONE lightweight submission grappling champion below:

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Kade Ruotolo provides update on MMA debut

At 19 years old, the potential for Kade Ruotolo to transition to MMA and become a world champion is fascinating. He’s been asked about MMA plenty, but the jiu-jitsu player was focusing on his ADCC run and the ONE belt. Ruotolo provided an update on a possible move to the sport during his ONE on Prime Video 3 post-fight interview:

"Guaranteed. I've been working on it a bit more. I kind of had to hit the brakes just for a little bit, I had that huge ADCC tournament and then now this but I'm going to continue working for these hands and my goal is early next year to start mixing it up and have that MMA debut. I'm beyond ecstatic about that as well.”

Watch Kade Ruotolo's post-fight interview below:

It’s crazy to think that Ruotolo’s success in submission grappling could only be the start of his combat sports career. Luckily, ONE Championship provides a platform for fighters like him who want to transition to other martial arts and test their skills.