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Last weekend at ONE Fight Night 11: Eersel vs. Menshikov, Norwegian BJJ blackbelt Tommy Langaker fell short in his bid to become a world champion. The 2020 IBJJF European Championships' gold medalist lost a nail-biting contest against ONE lightweight submission grappling world champion Kade Ruotolo. Fought under No-Gi Jiujitsu rules, Langaker was largely out of his element but still pushed the 20-year-old world champ to the limit.
Having most of his accomplishments in BJJ in Gi matches, Tommy Langaker was transparent and humble enough to admit that No-Gi isn't his strongest suit yet.
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Aside from the European Championships, the Norwegian grappler also won gold medals at the 2019 Copa Podio Grand Prix and 2019 AJP Abu Dhabi Pro. He also won silver medals at the 2018 IBJJF Worlds and 2018 IBJJF Pans Championships. All of which were fought in Gi.
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In an Instagram post addressing his loss to Ruotolo, Langaker wholeheartedly admitted that he still has a long way to go in No-Gi. Still, he also assessed that he is getting better at it.
Here's the post:
"Starting to get a hold on this Nogi thing! Some more work is needed, getting some nice entries but need to get that proper finishing finesse! Whats your thought on our title Fight?✌️"
Despite having an experience disadvantage against Ruotolo, Langaker did better than most men who faced the world champion in recent years. For more than half of the match, he was ahead on the scorecards with a point over the prodigious grappler. It wasn't until Ruotolo rallied back late that the scores got even. Still, despite narrowly losing the bout via a unanimous decision, Tommy Langaker gave a good account of himself against one the best world champions today.
Look to see the Norwegian BJJ blackbelt continue to grow and develop his Jiujitsu No-Gi game and perhaps one day wear gold around his waist.
North American fans keen to catch Tommy Langaker's bout with Ruotolo at ONE Fight Night 11 can do so via free replay on Amazon Prime Video
