Lightweight submission grappling king Kade Ruotolo says October will be a perfect time to "keep the ball rolling" in MMA

ONE lightweight submission grappling world champion Kade Ruotolo is craving another MMA scrap on the global stage of ONE Championship, and he hopes to achieve just that in the final quarter of 2024.

The Atos representative enjoyed a dream start in the all-around discipline at ONE 167 this past June, where he attained a rear-naked choke win over Blake Cooper in their lightweight MMA tilt.

Before relying on his world-class submission skills to get the job done, the 21-year-old even displayed his abilities in the striking department, letting loose with his hands and kicks efficiently.

On an ideal timeline for his sophomore fight in MMA, the Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt had his to say to Cageside Press:

"In October, that'll be a good time [to return to MMA], you know, just to keep the ball rolling."

Watch Kade Ruotolo's interview with Cageside Press below:

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Kade Ruotolo will need to clear his toughest assignment before continuing MMA pursuit

While fired up to lace the four-once gloves again in the discipline, Kade Ruotolo cannot look past his next assignment under the ONE Championship banner.

The lightweight submission grappling world champion is locked in for a world title defense against flyweight kingpin Mikey Musumeci at ONE 168: Denver, which broadcasts live from Ball Arena on Sept. 6.

There, the California-based martial artist aims to ruin 'Darth Rigatoni's dreams of conquering two submission grappling divisions, hand the latter a first loss in The Home Of Martial Arts, and extend his pristine promotional slate to 8-0.

On the magnitude of this fight, Ruotolo told Bloody Elbow:

"I think it's pretty safe to say it's the biggest submission grappling match of all time. I keep hearing it from other people. That's pretty cool to hear. It's super rad."

Tickets for ONE 168: Denver is available on Ticketmaster.