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Kade Ruotolo and Mikey Musumeci are heading into one of the biggest dream fights for any grappling fans all over the world.
In their next matchup, Ruotolo will defend his ONE welterweight submission grappling world title over Musumeci, who is currently ruling the flyweight division, at ONE 168: Denver inside the Ball Arena on Sept. 6.
Before they clash in the epic showdown, Ruotolo had a chance to sit down with Ariel Helwani at The MMA Hour to share how this came to fruition and how it will satisfy their respective fans.
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The Californian superstar said:
"It wasn’t so much that I was trying to fight Mikey in particular or I’m looking to fight Mikey, it was just that it was the match a lot of the fans are commenting. It was just a lot of the jiu-jitsu community really wanted to see, so if that’s what they wanna see, I’m gonna give it to them."
With an identical 7-0 run in ONE Championship between the two, this matchup will surely be a showdown of epic proportion given the styles of both grapplers.
Moreover, Ruotolo had just recorded an extraordinary MMA debut to add to his record, when he submitted fellow American Blake Cooper with a rear-naked choke in the opening round.
On the other hand, Musumeci is coming off a heated submission win over old rival Gabriel Sousa in June, using a nasty calf slicer to end the night early.
Kade Ruotolo wants another MMA fight after his world title defense fight
Kade Ruotolo is not underestimating his next challenge in Mikey Musumeci, but he is looking forward to a probable MMA tilt after their world title match at ONE 168.
Following a victorious debut over Blake Cooper, Ruotolo hopes to join the second U.S. card this year at ONE 169: Atlanta, on Nov. 8 at State Farm Arena. He told Helwani in the same interview:
"Absolutely, for sure. I'm trying to get on a card as soon as possible. We got a couple of big jiu-jitsu things lined up. We got that September card in Colorado for ONE Championship, so [I'm] going to be on that. But hopefully, after that, I'll put the gloves back on and I think there's a November card."
Check the full interview below:
