“I couldn't even walk” - Kade Ruotolo reveals dealing with a gnarly labrum injury before his second MMA fight
Kade Ruotolo was dealing with a pretty nasty injury right before his second career MMA fight. Of course, you'd never know it just by watching the fight.
In June, the reigning ONE lightweight submission grappling world champion made his successful mixed martial arts debut with a quickfire submission victory over Blake Cooper at ONE 167.
Five months later, he added a second-straight win in four-ounce gloves, taking out former Pakistani MMA champion Ahmed Mujtaba at ONE 169 inside the legendary Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.
Ruotolo once again utilized his world-class grappling to get the job done, but not before blasting Mujtaba with a picture-perfect overhand right under the 60-second mark of the opening round.
As it turns out, Kade Ruotolo wasn't even able to walk for a few weeks before the fight, telling Ariel Helwani that he had torn his labrum in the lead-up to the bout.
"I reckon so. I've always had pretty pretty stiff hips," Ruotolo said. "I think Jujitsu, that's one of the first things it targets is your hips, you know. And, aside from that, my last MMA fight, I was throwing a lot of kicks, and I think I did my right labrum tear probably right before my last fight. There's about 3-4 days a week and a half before that fight where I couldn't even walk. It was pretty rough."
Kade Ruotolo trained the overhand right he blasted Mujtaba with at ONE 169
While it's safe to assume that Kade Ruotolo will regularly rely on his ground game to get the job done in his MMA run, the Atos Jiu-Jitsu star was happy to show off a bit of his striking at ONE 169.
"That was something we've been working on all camp — high low, over," Ruotolo said of the overhand right he landed on Mujtaba during his post-fight interview in the ring. "That's the combo that's been special for me, and I'm so stoked to get it done today. So stoked."
We likely won't see Kade Ruotolo back inside the Circle until 2025, but it sounds like the submission grappling star is going all-in on his MMA run in ONE. It also sounds like he'll have a bit of company next year when his brother and fellow ONE world champion, Tye Ruotolo, plots his own mixed martial arts debut.
"My brother, I know he’s in the same boat," Ruotolo added. "He’s recovering. I’m gonna spend the rest of this year recovering and coming strong for MMA next year, absolutely, and keeping with those W’s."
If you missed any of the action, ONE Championship fans in the United States and Canada can watch the ONE 169: Malykhin vs. Reug Reug replay on demand via Amazon Prime Video.