"Really cool to try to set a difference" - Kade Ruotolo echoes Mikey Musumeci’s call for a cleaner sport

With ONE Championship crowning the promotion’s first two submission grappling world champions, Mikey Musumeci and Kade Ruotolo, the sport has never been put on a pedestal like it has been in recent months.

Thanks to the promotion giving submission grappling a new platform, ONE is becoming a home for some of the best jiu-jitsu competitors in the world. Their goal of pushing the sport of submission grappling to new heights has been shared by its two champs.

Following Kade Ruotolo’s win at ONE on Prime Video 3, he was asked about a comment made by Musumeci. The promotion's first submission grappling titleholder said he was happy to see Ruotolo win the belt and be successful at the ADCC due to his stance as a clean athlete.

Having been credited for doing it the right way, Ruotolo responded to Musumeci’s praise during his post-fight interview:

“Oh, yeah, it's amazing. I'm super thankful to Mikey for saying that. It means a lot in a sport where, especially jiu-jitsu, I feel like more than any other sport probably in the world, it's just run by steroids pretty much. There's been almost no testing in all of jiu-jitsu and everyone since the beginning of time, since I've been in it, it's pretty much been 'roiding to the gills. So it's really cool to try to set a difference.”

He added:

“I think the only way we'll ever kind of see any changes as more natural athletes coming out there and speaking out on it. So Mikey and other national athletes like Roberto [Jimenez], my brother, and I, things will hopefully carry the wave.”

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“I want to go ahead and defend my title ASAP” - Kade Ruotolo calls out Tainan Dalpra and Tommy Langaker

Shortly after winning the ONE lightweight submission grappling world championship at ONE on Prime Video 3, Kade Ruotolo set his sights set on defending his crown.

After submitting four-time sambo world champion Uali Kurzhev, Ruotolo began calling out names in his post-fight interview.

Riding an incredible wave of momentum, which has seen him win a ONE world championship and become the youngest ever ADCC champion, Kade Ruotolo doesn’t want to waste any time.

Ruotolo mentioned two names once he got ahold of the mic:

"The sooner we can get back in here, in the circle, the better. You know, I want to go ahead and defend my title ASAP. 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. If we could get it going towards the end of the year, I would love those matches, for sure. We need to get it going."

Watch the full post-fight interview here: