"It was the start of our brand" - Kade Ruotolo shares how he and twin Tye became BJJ's first-ever "child stars"
It seems that fight fans have watched the Ruotolo twins, Kade and Tye, grow up right before our eyes. After all, these two Brazilian jiu-jitsu prodigies were somewhat considered child stars of the sport long before the social media age took over.
The Ruotolos were definitely ahead of the game. They had the skills and charisma to make it big, during a time when grappling wasn't as accepted in the mainstream as it is today.
Turns out, those home videos that made them viral sensations were all made possible by their mother who documented their journey.
Kade Ruotolo, in a recent interview on the Talk-Jitsu podcast, revealed:
"The whole 'BJJ child star thing', it was all my mom. She was crafty with the camera and already making edits together before it was even a thing. All the credit goes to her, super thankful that she was able to make those highlight videos. It was kind of the start of our brand, as you can say, the Ruotolo brothers."
The lightweight submission grappling king was also relieved that they were able to back up the hype with success in the BJJ circuit, adding:
"We started to grow our names as kids and the results in the competitions just followed and now we're here today."
Kade Ruotolo looks to become a complete martial artist in ONE debut
Kade Ruotolo has certainly come a long way since those adorable juvenile clips with his brother Tye. After going 6-0 in grappling matches under the ONE banner, the 21-year-old is finally taking the plunge to mixed martial arts.
Ruotolo will lace up the four-ounce gloves at ONE 167 on June 7 against Blake Cooper at Impact Arena in Bangkok, Thailand. The stacked card will air live in US primetime free for Prime Video subscribers in the United States and Canada.
Also, follow this link for tickets to Kade Ruotolo's grappling title defense vs. Mikey Musumeci at ONE 168: Denver on September 6 at Ball Arena.
Watch Kade Ruotolo's full interview: