After months of anticipation, ONE lightweight submission grappling world champion Kade Ruotolo finally made his MMA debut last weekend at ONE 167, and the contest was over almost before fans knew it.
The American grappling superstar entered the all-encompassing sport in a lightweight affair with Blake Cooper on Saturday, 8th June, inside Bangkok, Thailand’s Impact Arena, and he needed just over three minutes to secure the win via rear-naked choke.
Having finished proceedings so quickly, Ruotolo was understandably eager to return to action when he spoke after the fight.
“I’m so urgent to get right back to the MMA realm, to be honest with you,” he said.
“I had so much fun out there tonight. I honestly wanted to go back out and do it again.”
Many grapplers have transitioned to MMA, but only a special few have developed the striking skills needed to compete at the highest level.
Luckily, Ruotolo has youth on his side. At 21 years old, he still has plenty of time to shape and perfect his arsenal on the feet.
The few punches and kicks the Californian threw against Cooper at ONE 167 already looked pretty impressive. But next time, he plans to showcase the full extent of his power.
“I feel like [you are] your biggest critic most of the time. I’ve seen a lot of mistakes or [felt] like I made a lot of mistakes on the feet,” Ruotolo said.
“But at the same time, I just got that nervous energy, that nervous debut, and I can’t wait to go show people what I can do on the feet.”
Fans have been sounding off about ONE Championship’s lightweight submission grappling king since his debut performance in MMA, and ONE Chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong had some choice words.
“I was very surprised,” Sityodtong said.
“Most people who are World Champions and the very best in one discipline usually show a little bit of stiffness in the other discipline. But Kade looked very smooth.”
Ruotolo may be hungry to get back in the small gloves, but before he can think about that, he’ll have to return to his bread-and-butter on September 7th.
The Atos standout will defend his ONE Lightweight Submission Grappling World Title against flyweight submission grappling king Mikey Musumeci at ONE 168: Denver – in what is set to be the promotion’s biggest submission grappling bout of the summer.
