“The level is just not there” – Kade Ruotolo says not all BJJ black belts in MMA are created equally 

ONE lightweight submission grappling world champion Kade Ruotolo recently joined MMA legend Rampage Jackson's podcast, Jaxxson Podcast, on YouTube to talk all things jiu-jitsu. One of the interesting parts of the conversation was the deemed "levels" in jiu-jitsu.

Now, there are the established levels, such as the white, blue, purple, brown, and black belts. You also have numerous stripes on every level. At the black belt level, the stripes can go all the way up to eight, nine, and ten. The last one is reserved for its founder, Master Helio Gracie.

That being said, there are these unspoken "levels" to these belts. When it comes to black belts, for example, there are elite black belts, competition-level black belts above them, and then, there are the likes of the Ruotolo brothers with world-class black belts.

Kade Ruotolo reiterated this in the podcast:

“It’s hard to say. They get to the point where they’re not using jiu-jitsu and they just never really use jiu-jitsu. They are black belts but they never really use their jiu-jitsu. When they are put into scenarios where jiu-jitsu is involved, some are black belts but the level is just not there.”

Watch the full podcast here:

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Kade Ruotolo to test his jiu-jitsu skills in an MMA fight at ONE 167

Perhaps the level Kade Ruotolo was referring to was black belts who go and test their skills in MMA. Many BJJ black belt world champions have transitioned into MMA and found varying degrees of success. On June 7 at ONE 167, Ruotolo will get to join this group of black belts as he will make his MMA debut against Blake Cooper.

On his preparations for his long-awaited MMA debut, the 21-year-old prodigy said:

“It’s been coming along, for sure. I’m no Mike Tyson or Muhammad Ali in the hands yet, but it’s coming along pretty fast I'm definitely comfortable. That’s the main adjustment. I'm definitely comfortable on my feet.”

ONE 167 will air live on US Primetime on June 7, free of charge for Prime Video subscribers in North America.