"He'll do well" - Jarred Brooks backs 'mixed martial artsy' Kade Ruotolo to flourish in MMA debut at ONE 167
Jarred Brooks expects Kade Ruotolo to waste no time settling into the all-encompassing discipline in his impending MMA debut against Blake Cooper at ONE 167.
'The Monkey God' has done his research on the ONE lightweight submission grappling world champion. From that, he concludes that Ruotolo's knowledge in other disciplines could allow him to expand his brand on the global stage.
After all, before conquering the submission grappling realm, Ruotolo did pick up striking alongside his twin brother, Tye, through their formative years, something they have already intertwined into their submission grappling game, per Brooks.
Speaking to Sportskeeda MMA, Jarred Brooks noted:
"Few things are either gonna happen; you're gonna see, either if Kade has got that dog in him or if he's really just a submission grappling artist, right? I do think that their style and how they live move is kind of mixed martial artsy, it's kind of like taekwondo, kind of, boxing a little bit. But I think that he'll do well."
Watch Jarred Brooks' full interview with Sportskeeda MMA here:
Ruotolo's clash against Cooper is one of two massive fights the 21-year-old has lined up for the rest of 2024 thus far.
After the Atos representative opens his MMA account inside the Impact Arena on June 7, he will defend his lightweight gold against Mikey Musumeci at ONE 168: Denver on September 6.
Both contests will certainly test the mettle and courage of the young phenom. But as Ruotolo has proven in the past, he only thrives when he's up against the very best.
North American fans with an active Amazon Prime Video subscription can catch the entire ONE 167 card live and for free in U.S. primetime on June 7.
Jarred Brooks targets trilogy showdown vs Joshua Pacio at ONE 170
After coming to terms with his disqualification loss to Joshua Pacio at ONE 166: Qatar, Jarred Brooks hopes the promotion will book them in for a rubber match at ONE 170.
Ideally, 'The Monkey God' would love to reclaim his ONE strawweight MMA world championship much quicker. However, recent news about Joshua Pacio's ACL tear has thrown a spanner in the works.
Still, he remains optimistic about his chances of getting a shot at Pacio's 26-pound strap, and he wants it to get signed and sorted for ONE Championship's third live event from the United States, as he told Sportskeeda MMA:
"In my personal opinion, that's my belt. If they want to run it back in the US in November, let's do it."
ONE 170 emanates live from the State Farm Arena in Atlanta on November 8.
Before that, ONE Championship returns with a talent-jammed card, ONE 168: Denver, for its second on-ground show in the States on September 6. Tickets for the show can be purchased here.