"I'll put the gloves back on" - Kade Ruotolo eyeing another MMA match after grappling superfight with Mikey Musumeci
ONE lightweight submission grappling world champion Kade Ruotolo is hoping to don the four-ounce gloves anew before the year ends.
The youngest ADCC world champion recently took the mixed martial arts world by storm with a stunning debut win against Blake Cooper at ONE 167 earlier this month.
As much as Ruotolo would love to continue his budding MMA career, he must first honor his responsibilities as the king of the 170-pound grappling division.
The world's largest martial arts organization's return to the United States this coming September 6 is made even bigger, as every grappling fan's dream fight will become a reality at ONE 168: Denver.
Kade Ruotolo will be defending his belt against reigning ONE flyweight submission grappling world champion Mikey Musumeci inside Ball Arena, live in US Primetime.
While the Atos standout knows he can't mess around the dangerous 'Darth Rigatoni', he made it clear that he wants to stay active and perhaps do another MMA bout in November.
Kade Ruotolo told Ariel Helwani during his guest appearance on The MMA Hour:
"Absolutely, for sure. I'm trying to get on a card as soon as possible. We got a couple of big jiu-jitsu things lined up. We got that September card in Colorado for ONE Championship, so [I'm] going to be on that. But hopefully, after that, I'll put the gloves back on and I think there's a November card."
Watch the full interview:
Kade Ruotolo ready to fight anyone regardless of size
The Ruotolo twins, Kade and Tye, are known for taking on and beating opposition much larger than them.
However, the roles will be reversed this time when Kade will be the significantly bigger man against his next challenger Musumeci.
While it wasn't exactly a pairing he was lobbying for, the 21-year-old said on the MightyCast that he's not one to turn down matches:
"Every match that has ever been gifted to me I’ve always accepted it. To be honest with you, it wasn’t that I wanted to fight Mikey. He’s a smaller competitor. They offered it a couple of times and I said yes."
ONE 168: Denver is free for Prime Video subscribers in the United States and Canada.