"You have to consider the opposition" - Anatoly Malykhin says BJJ savant Kade Ruotolo must use striking wisely in MMA debut

One week out from Kade Ruotolo's MMA debut, ONE three-division world champion Anatoly Malykhin shared his thoughts about the BJJ savant's chances of beating his opposition this Friday.

Anyone who's anyone will be at the Impact Arena in Bangkok to watch 21-year-old phenom Kade Ruotolo fight in his first MMA match at ONE 167.

Anatoly Malykhin in particular is thrilled to watch Kade's evolution from BJJ to MMA, after hearing all they hype surrounding his boxing skills.

However, Malykhin, who also started his MMA career as a wrestler first, is a bit worried that Kade might get too wrapped up about showing off his striking skills that he'll lose focus on what he does best.

Speaking to ONE, 'Sladkiy' explained:

"As his striking skills improve, he can try his hand at striking with other grapplers. But you also have to consider the opposition. If the opponent is a striker, then you need to wrestle. If the opponent is a wrestler, then you can try your striking skills."

The ONE lightweight submission grapplng world champion brings a lethal ground game to his first MMA outing. Starting out as a BJJ practioner, Kade has all the tools in his toolbox to make it really difficult for Cooper to win, especially since his rival is more prone to stand up and brawl.

But as Malkhin said, MMA is a different ball game. Kade must be a lot more strategic in terms of when to use the best choice of weapons he has and how.

ONE 167 will air live in US Primetime on June 7, free of charge for existing Prime Video subscribers in North America.

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Kade Ruotolo adds wrestling into his MMA arsenal in preparation for Blake Cooper's all-encompassing skillset

Fighting Blake Cooper will be no picnic for MMA's newest addition, Kade Ruotolo.

Cooper, as we all know, comes from a family with deep MMA roots. His father, Ray 'Bradda' Cooper and brother Ray Cooper III, are considered MMA icons in Hawaii and around the world.

So there's no doubt that Blake will use all their knowledge in both the wrestling and striking departments to his advantage come Friday night.

But Kade comes into the foray more prepared than ever. He's called upon grappling king Erik Paulson to reinforce his already impenetrable ground game.

He told ONE:

"He went and showed me three techniques that I had never seen before that blew my mind, that I've using in training till now."