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ONE lightweight submission grappling world champion Kade Ruotolo is the perfect combination of explosiveness, creativity and technique. All these attributes were on full display when he defended his throne against Matheus Gabriel at ONE on Prime Video 5 last year.
The 20-year-old BJJ prodigy showcased his frighteningly unpredictable attacks when he absolutely dominated the Brazilian former world champion in every aspect of the game.
In a recent video posted by ONE Championship on Instagram, we saw a short breakdown of how Kade Ruotolo executed an emphatic bodylock slam on Matheus Gabriel.
Here's the video:
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"Devil’s in the details 😈 @ruotolobrothersjiujitsu"
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What Ruotolo did here was a classic strategy that's effective in any combat situation: misdirection. The ONE lightweight submission grappling world champion used the ankle pick to mislead Gabriel's attention. This then led to an opening for the bodylock which led to the finish of the takedown.
All Gabriel could do was close his guard and brace for impact as Ruotolo picked him up and slammed him hard on the mat. There might not be another lightweight in the world who could have stopped that powerful sequence.
Ruotolo proceeded to dominate all ten minutes of the fight, awarding him a unanimous decision win and a successful defense of his ONE lightweight submission grappling world title.
After an impressive 2022, Kade Ruotolo wins ONE Submision Grappling Athlete of the Year
After three impressive wins in the promotion in 2022, prodigious superstar Kade Ruotolo won the Submission Grappling Athlete of the Year honors in ONE Championship.
Ruotolo immediately made an impact in the organization by snagging an impressive string of wins against Matheus Gabriel, Uali Kurzhev, and Shinya Aoki. In doing so, he captured the inaugural ONE lightweight submission grappling world title and defended it once.
On top of this impressive resume, Kade Ruotolo also made history by becoming the youngest gold medalist in ADCC history when he finished all his opponents at the 2022 ADCC World Championship.
It's no secret that the 20-year-old world champion is on a roll at this early stage of his career. Expect bigger matches and even bigger wins as this young BJJ phenom is just on his way to reaching his prime. What a frightening thought for all the other grapplers in his division.
