“Get back in there as soon as possible” - Kade Ruotolo eyes quick turnaround in MMA after third first-round finish in Qatar
Kade Ruotolo raced to another impressive MMA victory and wants to sustain its momentum, looking to be back in action as soon as possible. Ruotolo highlighted this following his victory at ONE 171: Qatar on Feb. 20 at the Lusail Sports Arena in Lusail, where he defeated Nicolas Vigna by first-round submission in their catchweight (175 pounds) clash.
The reigning lightweight submission grappling world champion told ONE commentator Mitch Chilson in an interview:
"What I want is definitely another MMA fight. I want to get in there as soon as possible and keep it in the first round again."
Kade Ruotolo was in his element right from the start against Vigna at ONE 171. He landed a head kick in the early goings which he used as a start-off point to exert continuous pressure on his opponent.
Midway through the first round, Ruotolo put Vigna in a tight body lock that had the latter scrambling to get out of. This, however, opened himself up for a body-and-head choke, which led to Ruotolo going for an arm-triangle finish.
The win was the third in MMA in as many matches for Ruotolo, who began his campaign in the multi-faceted sport in June last year. It also earned him another $50,000 performance bonus from ONE Chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong, his seventh bonus win in nine victories.
The replay of ONE 171: Qatar is available at watch.onefc.com.
Kade Ruotolo still committed to submission grappling
While he has had success in his MMA campaign, Kade Ruotolo reiterated that he is still very much committed to his traditional lane of submission grappling.
The reigning lightweight submission grappling world champion said that at this point of his martial arts journey, concurrently competing in jiu-jitsu and MMA is his priority.
Ruotolo shared this in an interview with the Bangkok Post ahead of his match and victory at ONE 171: Qatar on Feb. 20, saying:
"Definitely not going to stay on hold, I've got the grappling strap, and I've got to defend that, right? That's always the goal. I definitely don't want to leave grappling aside. It's always to be right up there with MMA. I don't want to leave one sport for the other."
Kade Ruotolo became the lightweight submission grappling world champion in October 2022 and has had three successful title defenses since. His last defense took place in January last year, where he defeated Norwegian challenger Tommy Langaker by submission in their rematch.