Kade Ruotolo recalls time he ran into Ryan Garcia and nearly got into an altercation: "I don't like your energy"
ONE lightweight MMA world champion Kade Ruotolo nearly came to blows with a former WBC interim lightweight champion Ryan Garcia.
This was revealed by the 21-year-old Atos standout himself during a recent interview with Sportskeeda MMA's Nick Atkin during the ONE Fight Night 23 pre-event festivities.
As relayed by Ruotolo, he was simply hanging out in Huntington Beach, California when he saw MMA superstar Nate Diaz.
"We went to get some dessert and we see Nate Diaz and his whole crew walk by, 'Like, what? No way!"
The commotion, however, began when the professional boxer came out of nowhere and got into his face.
Kade Ruotolo added:
"Ryan Garcia hops out of some Escalade with a couple of his boys or whatever. He comes straight into my zone, saying, 'Why you taking pictures with Nate?' Right up in my face. So I pushed him back and told him, 'I don't like your energy'. It was just weird for him to get in our face. As soon as I pushed him back, his eyes got all big and I thought we were gonna scrap. He was looking like a little boy. I was like, 'This is an easy one."
"He turns to his bodyguard and throws his bodyguard to me, who says, 'You push him?' I'm just squaring off with his bodyguard now, saying 'I didnt do anything.'"
Watch the full interview:
Cooler heads eventually prevailed between Kade Ruotolo and Ryan Garcia
While tempers flared initially, Garcia eventually learned who Ruotolo was through Nate Diaz.
'King Ryan' eventually backed down before things got serious. Ruotolo shared:
"It was pretty goofy but long story short, he sent his bodyguards to me and he ended up apologizing and then he said, ‘You'd probably break my arm all this stuff.’ I think it was just a drunken night for him."
Kade Ruotolo, of course, is one of the most chill guys out there but it's wise not to get on his bad side. The youngest ADCC world champion will return to action at ONE 168: Denver on September 6, where he'll defend his lightweight submission grappling crown against Mikey Musumeci.
Kade's twin, Tye Ruotolo, meanwhile, will tussle with Jozef Chen this Friday at ONE Fight Night 23. The full event will air live in US Primetime on July 5, free of charge for Prime Video subscribers in North America.