Norwegian BJJ blackbelt Tommy Langaker is bound for the biggest match of his career as he faces the youngest ADCC world champion ever, Kade Ruotolo, at ONE Fight Night 11. The bout will be for Ruotolo's ONE lightweight submission grappling world title and will be Langaker's first shot at world championship gold.
Tommy Langaker made a memorable ONE debut last year when he beat multi-time IBJJF world champion Renato Canuto via unanimous decision. The win also got the Norwegian grappler a $50,000 performance from ONE.
In a recent Instagram post by jiu-jitsu practitioner and stand-up comic Bobby Sandhu, we saw Langaker breakdown his now-famous back-take on Canuto. It was slick, crafty, and definitely something you want to start drilling in the gym:
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Tommy Langaker used a leglock entry as a smoke screen to smoothly take his opponent's back. With the recent revolution of leglocks, nearly everyone at this point is using leg attacks. Using them as a way to find different routes to gain a dominant position, however, is definitely a plus.
After the win, Tommy Langaker went on to compete in the 2022 ADCC world championship but failed get to the medal rounds. He bounced back by returning to ONE Championship at ONE Fight Night 7 and submitting former ONE lightweight submission grappling world title contender Uali Kurzhev via heel hook. The win got the Norwegian grappler his second performance bonus from ONE.
Come ONE Fight Night 11, he will face perhaps the most dangerous grappler in the organization in Kade Ruotolo. The 20-year-old world champion is perfect in the promotion, going 3-0 with one world title win and one world title defense. Additionally, he also won the gold medal in the same ADCC world championship Langaker competed in, capping off 2022 with the Submission Grappling Athlete of the Year award from ONE Championship.
ONE Fight Night 11 will be broadcast live from the legendary Lumpinee Boxing Stadium on June 9. The event will be available live and for free to all Prime Video subscribers in North America.