WATCH: Kade Ruotolo cranks to high heaven with nasty Estima Lock in world title defense against Tommy Langaker

Fulfilling its moniker of being the “home of martial arts,” ONE Championship has established an extremely solid submission grappling division, bannered by many of the world’s best.

Among those names is inaugural and reigning ONE lightweight submission grappling world champion Kade Ruotolo, who debuted in May 2022 against legendary Japanese star Shinya Aoki. He impressed fans all over the world with a unanimous decision win.

With the landmark Aoki win under his belt, Ruotolo could do no wrong in his next bout, as he faced Uali Kurzhev in the ONE Circle for the world championship that he currently holds. He was declared the winner after a gnarly heel hook at the 4:26 mark of the 10-minute contest.

After successfully defending his gold against Matheus Gabriel, Ruotolo would face the biggest challenge of his career thus far in the form of Norwegian star Tommy Langaker last June at ONE Fight Night 11.

Both men had their respective moments in the bout as Langaker had Ruotolo in trouble at certain points, while the same happened with Ruotolo as the aggressor. At one particular point, Ruotolo put in all his might with a devastating Estima Lock in the hopes of forcing Langaker into submission.

Ruotolo would go on to win by unanimous decision.

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Kade Ruotolo rematches Tommy Langaker at ONE 165

Due to the high-level grappling and fast-paced action that Ruotolo and Langaker treated the fans to in 2023, ONE Championship saw it fit to have the rematch take place on January 28 as part of the ONE 165 event.

The event will mark the promotion’s return to Japan, with a stacked ONE 165 lineup going down at the Ariake Arena in Tokyo.

Check your local listings or visit ONE Championship's official website on how to watch ONE 165 from your location.