Kade Ruotolo vows to prioritize MMA training as inevitable debut looms

ONE lightweight submission grappling world champion Kade Ruotolo knows if he wants a successful transition to mixed martial arts he needs to put in the needed work.

It is something he is willing to do, notwithstanding that he also has to attend to his commitments as a jiu-jitsu athlete.

20-year-old Kade Ruotolo has been vocal about his desire to also compete in MMA under ONE Championship, part of his thrust to continue challenging himself and grow as a fighter.

He has been training on his own, with help from his team at Atos Jiu-Jitsu in San Diego. However, he recognizes that it is not enough and he needs to focus more on developing his stand up skills

Kade Ruotolo shared this during the post-fight interview for his latest fight, saying:

“There's always a jiu-jitsu priority or there’s, you know, ADCC, ONE or something that we have to train for and focus for. There's probably going to be another one next month and the one after. And I just finally made a decision. Even if I have something in jiu-jitsu coming up, I just need to stick to training MMA. Because if I don't stick to that training regimen, then I'm never going to have that debut, and then have that confidence to make that debut.”

Watch the interview below:

Kade Ruotolo is currently weighing his options on which gym he wants to train MMA with. He is eyeing to kick off his campaign in the multi-faceted sport before the year ends.

The American was last in action at ONE Fight Night 11 on Prime Video on June 9 at the Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok.

He successfully defended the ONE lightweight submission grappling world title against a spirited challenge from Norwegian Tommy Langaker, winning by unanimous decision.

Replay of ONE Fight Night 11 is available for free on Amazon Prime in North America.