ONE 171 results and recap: Kade Ruotolo vs. Nicolas Vigna

After kickstarting his MMA run with back-to-back first-round finishes last year, Kade Ruotolo returned to martial arts’ biggest global stage at ONE 171: Qatar looking to make it three in a row against undefeated Argentinian debutant Nicolas Vigna inside the Lusail Sports Arena.

Round 1: Vigna comes out and immediately takes the center of the circle, but as Vigna approaches, Ruotolo lands a head kick. He quickly changed levels and went fishing for a heel hook in the opening minute. Vigna fights his way out and back up, but Ruotolo keeps the pressure coming, securing another quick takedown and immediately transitioning to Vigna’s back. Ruotolo is peppering Vigna with strikes, trying to punch his way into the choke, but the Argentinian is defending well.

Ruotolo slaps on a body lock to better control his opponent. Ruotolo transitions into full mount and starts raining down strikes from the top. While defending the strikes, Vigna leaves himself open for a head-and-arm choke. Ruotolo takes the bait, cinches it in, and forces the tap out in the opening round.

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ONE 171: Qatar - Kade Ruotolo vs. Nicolas Vigna Official Result

With the victory, the ONE lightweight submission grappling world champion improves to 3-0 in mixed martial arts competition, with all three victories coming via submission in the opening round.

For his performance, Ruotolo scored himself another $50,000 bonus from ONE Championship CEO Chatri Sityodtong.

During his post-fight interview with Mitch Chilson, Ruotolo expressed interest in defending his submission grappling title, but right now, the Atos BJJ star is having entirely too much fun catching necks and cashing checks inside the circle.

Kade Ruotolo defeated Nicolas Vigna via submission (arm-triangle choke) at 3:05 of round one (MMA - 175-pound catchweight)