“We’re just trying to break that cycle” - Kade Ruotolo continues to fight the good fight against PED use in BJJ

The use of performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) in BJJ is nothing new, but ONE lightweight submission grappling world champion Kade Ruotolo is going against the tide and is trying to shift the discourse on it by pushing natural athletes to the fore.

The 21-year-old Atos native touched on the matter during his recent appearance on The MMA Hour . When asked by host Ariel Helwani to give his take on the use of PEDs in his beloved sport, he said:

"That's just the way it's been, it seems like, for the past however many years. So we're just trying to break that cycle and have more natural athletes standing up and showing you can do it without steroids."

Check out what he had to say below, beginning at 23:07:

As per the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), PEDs can significantly improve one's athletic performance. For its part, ONE Championship has jacked up its monitoring and drug-testing the past couple of years to ensure that athletes like Kade Ruotolo strictly adhere to world-governing policies.

Kade Ruotolo to defend lightweight submission grappling gold at ONE 168

Kade Ruotolo will defend the ONE lightweight submission grappling world title when he returns to action in September in the United Sates.

The grappling ace is featured in a title clash against fellow ONE champion and American Mikey Musumeci at ONE 168 in Denver, Colorado, U.S.A. It is part of the promotion's second live on-ground event in the U.S., which will take place at the Ball Arena, home of the NBA's Denver Nuggets.

It will mark the third time Kade Ruotolo will be defending his championship belt since becoming world champion in December 2022.

He will be coming into the title clash fresh from his MMA debut last month, where he won by submission (rear-naked choke) in the opening round pver Blake Cooper of the U.S..

Meanwhile, Musumeci, the flyweight submission grappling king, will be climbing three divisions higher to realize his goal of becoming a double ONE world champion.

Tickets for ONE 168: Denver are now available on Ticketmaster. It will be broadcast live and for free to North American fans with an active Amazon Prime Video subscription.