Ranking Kade Ruotolo’s wins in ONE Championship

Whenever one thinks of the new breed of Brazilian jiu-jitsu artists, an immediate name that would pop up is Kade Ruotolo.

The afro-sporting phenom has been wreaking havoc on the mats since he was a kid and has positioned himself as one of the greatest submission grapplers of his generation.

Ruotolo isn’t just the youngest ADCC world champion, he’s also the reigning ONE lightweight submission grappling world champion and is 3-0 in his run in ONE Championship.

Having made his ONE Championship debut in May 2022, Ruotolo stacked up wins over Japanese legend Shinya Aoki, Uali Kurzhev, and most recently Matheus Gabriel.

With Ruotolo set to defend his world title against Tommy Langaker at ONE Fight Night 11: Eersel vs. Menshikov, his name is set to gain further traction since the card is available live and for free to all Prime Video subscribers in North America.

That said, let’s look back and rank Kade Ruotolo’s wins in ONE Championship.

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#3. Shinya Aoki

Let’s start with the one that put Kade Ruotolo in front of the global audience.

The 20-year-old made his ONE Championship debut at ONE 157 against former ONE lightweight world champion Shinya Aoki.

The Japanese legend is considered one of the most gifted submission artists in MMA and earned the nickname ‘Tobikan Judan’ or the grand master of flying submissions, due to his athleticism on the mats.

Ruotolo, however, was the one who went airborne during his match against Aoki.

After Aoki prevented Ruotolo from bringing the match to the ground, the California native used an uncanny technique by jumping off the cage wall to take Aoki’s back.

Though Aoki’s savviness forced the bout to go to the judges’ scorecards, Ruotolo’s overall aggression ultimately earned him the unanimous decision win.

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#2. Matheus Gabriel

Kade Ruotolo was in his first defense of the ONE lightweight submission grappling world champion when he took on Matheus Gabriel at ONE on Prime Video 5.

In front of a Filipino crowd that’s more used to the high-octane striking matches, Ruotolo put on a show that even the most casual of viewers would jump out of their seats for.

From the early going, the defending world champion made sure that Gabriel was at his mercy.

Gabriel attempted to pull Ruotolo into his guard, but all he got was to put himself on the receiving end of a massive slam that rocked the structural integrity of the circle that night.

Ruotolo was aggressive from the opening bell and constantly tried to isolate a limb for a submission finish. Midway through the match, Ruotolo did another one of his acrobatic trickeries when he executed a flip to grab Gabriel’s left leg and slap on a knee bar.

Gabriel, though, was far too elusive and Ruotolo had to settle for a unanimous decision win to retain the gold.

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#1. Uali Kurzhev

If there’s a phrase to describe Kade Ruotolo’s then it has to be calculated madness.

The BJJ phenom moves at such a pace that the uninitiated may see it as having wasted movements, but Ruotolo does so in a way where every maneuver he does will lead to him getting into position.

The best example of this was when he faced Uali Kurzhev for the inaugural ONE lightweight submission grappling world title.

Ruotolo was aggression personified during their world championship match at ONE on Prime Video 3 in Malaysia.

The 20-year-old went on a constant offensive assault in trying to get dominant position against the Sambo world champion.

Ruotolo eventually locked in a tight heel hook midway through the 10-minute bout for the submission finish. The win was possibly Ruotolo's most important one since it awarded him the ONE lightweight submission grappling world title.