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ONE lightweight submission grappling world champion Kade Ruotolo plunges into his third straight mixed martial arts match next month as he takes on undefeated fighter Nicolas Vigna of Argentina.
The lightweight MMA showdown between the two fighters was recently added to what is shaping up to be a stacked card at ONE 171: Qatar, which is set to take place on Feb. 20 at the Lusail Sports Arena in Lusail.
It will be the third MMA outing of the American grappling ace in nine months and he is out to sustain his undefeated run in the multifaceted sport so far.
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Kade Ruotolo made his MMA debut back in June at ONE 167 and impressed with an opening-round submission (rear-naked choke) victory over fellow American fighter Blake Cooper. He then followed it up with another first-round submission finish (D'Arce choke) of Pakistani fighter Ahmed Mujtaba at ONE 169 in November.
Prior to dipping his hands as well in MMA, 22-year-old Ruotolo won all of his six submission grappling matches in ONE, becoming the inaugural lightweight champion in his second match in October 2022.
Meanwhile, his opponent at ONE 171: Qatar, Vigna, will be making his ONE Championship debut after dominating in his matches in the Central and South American circuit. 'El Paisa' boasts of a 7-0 record.
ONE 171 will mark the second straight year that ONE is holding an event in Qatar. Tickets are now available for purchase on this link.
Match at ONE 171 in line with Kade Ruotolo's push to have more MMA fights this year
The scheduled match of Kade Ruotolo at ONE 171: Qatar falls within his push to have more MMA matches in 2025, in conjunction with his steady submission grappling campaign.
He spoke about his MMA plans this year in an interview with the MMA Junkie back in October, saying:
"Ideally for 2025, if I can get, you know, a bare minimum of three, that would be awesome. If I could get three MMA scraps in and still, you know, defend my jiu-jitsu belt, I think that's be really active here, and I'd be super stoked to get that done yeah."
Check out what he had to say below:
Ruotolo's foray into MMA is part of his thrust to continue challenging himself and expanding his horizons as a martial artist.
