Tye and Kade Ruotolo explain why they compete more in no-gi now compared to when they were kids

Growing up, submission grappling duo Tye and Kade Ruotolo competed in gi Brazilian jiu-jitsu, but as they got older, the twin terrors switched to no-gi.

In a video uploaded to their shared Instagram account, the popular twin grapplers explained why they navigated towards competing in no-gi after years of training and competing in gi BJJ.

Watch the interview below:

Tye and Kade Ruotolo made their promotional debut together at ONE 157 in May 2022. Kade Ruotolo earned a dominant unanimous decision victory over Japanese legend Shinya Aoki, while his brother Tye pulled off a stunning 97-second submission of ‘The Lion Killer’ Garry Tonon.

Since then, Kade Ruotolo has gone on to become the promotion’s inaugural ONE lightweight submission grappling world champion, defeating Sambo world champion Uali Kurzhev in October. He successfully defended that world title against Matheus Gabriel two months later at ONE on Prime Video 5.

Tye Ruotolo is scheduled for a massive submission grappling clash when ONE Championship makes its U.S. debut on May 5. He will be tasked with taking on reigning ONE middleweight world champion Reinier de Ridder in a grappling super fight. Amazon Prime Video subscribers in North America can watch Tye Ruotolo’s return at ONE Fight Night 10 live and for free.

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Kade Ruotolo and Tommy Langaker are on a collision course

Kade Ruotolo is yet to book his next ONE submission grappling world title defense, but the 20-year-old ADCC world champion has one name in mind. Following his successful defense against Matheus Gabriel, Ruotolo called out fellow submission machine Tommy Langaker. Following up on his callout, Ruotolo said:

“It was nothing too crazy... Nothing too personal. Afterward there were talks about this match... me and Tommy... And at the after party, he was like, 'Yeah, when are we going to go?'... It was cool, but at the same time, he came at me with interesting energy I'd say, and he kind of fired me up to have a match with him."

After his quick submission of Uali Kurzhev at ONE Fight Night 7, Tommy Langaker responded to Ruotolo’s callout, letting the world champion know that he was ready to go any time:

“Yeah absolutely, just sign me up,” Langaker told the South China Morning Post. “I’m ready to go, I’m in good shape. I’m ready to fight, I’m injury free. Yeah let’s go.”