Submission grappling king Kade Ruotolo thrilled to soon cross off MMA debut on his "bucket list"

ONE lightweight submission grappling world champion Kade Ruotolo will finally make his long-awaited MMA debut at ONE 167 on June 7 and will have Blake Cooper as his opponent.

The Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ) black belter, alongside twin brother and fellow ONE submission grappling world champion Tye, has been teasing trying his hand at the multi-faceted sport of MMA and is ecstatic to have it happen soon.

In an interview with Karyn Bryant posted on her YouTube channel, Kade Ruotolo revealed just how ready he is to dip his toes in MMA:

"For sure. I always knew it was going to be a bucket list type of thing. But, you know, there's definitely a lot of things in jiu-jitsu that I wanted to accomplish first before making that transition."

Check out the full interview with Kade Ruotolo below:

The 21-year-old from San Diego, California remains undefeated through six submission grappling bouts under the world's largest martial arts promotion with two submission finishes to his name.

Despite attaining so many accolades in his grappling career, Ruotolo wants to prove to everyone that he can succeed even outside of his own comfort zone.

---

Kade Ruotolo thrilled to show fans his revamped arsenal

Blending his world-renowned grappling skills with his striking, Ruotolo knows that the ball is in his court at ONE 167 inside the Impact Arena in Bangkok, Thailand.

In a recent interview with ONE Championship, Ruotolo explained just how excited he is for his MMA debut:

"I love jiu-jitsu, my adrenaline is always pumping, but [MMA] is a different type of exhilarating. It's hard to almost explain it. I'm just extremely excited and excited to show the world what I can do."

ONE 167 will air live and for free to all Prime Video subscribers in the United States and Canada.