Kade Ruotolo on Tye Ruotolo’s successful world title defense vs. Izaak Michell: “I knew he had the capability”
Kade Ruotolo was thrilled to see his twin brother and fellow ONE world champion, Tye Ruotolo, successfully defend his 26 pounds of gold against Aussie grappler Izaak Michell.
Competing on the same ONE Fight Night 21 card inside the legendary Lumpinee Stadium, Kade and Tye Ruotolo scored matching arm-in rear-naked choke—a unique maneuver that the former dubbed the 'Ruotolotine.'
It was Kade who struck first on the night, earning a big win over Francisco Lo in a catchweight clash. Four fights later, Tye Ruotolo stepped into the main event spotlight to defend his ONE welterweight submission grappling world championship for the first time.
Shockingly, Tye Ruotolo came out on top in his match by submitting Michell with the exact same maneuver that his brother won with hours earlier.
Looking back on it, Kade Ruotolo told Cageside Press that seeing his brother succeed was a massive relief.
"It was a relief. I knew he had the capability, I knew he had more than the capability to do it. He just had to go out there and do it. So once he did it, boom, it was relief for stokes."
Kade Ruotolo meets Mikey Musumeci in massive grappling clash at ONE 168: Denver
After a successful mixed martial arts debut at ONE 167 in June, Kade Ruotolo will step back onto the mat on Friday, September 6, for one of the most anticipated submission grappling matches of all time.
In the ONE 168: Denver co-main event, Ruotolo will put his ONE lightweight submission grappling world championship on the line when he meets the promotion's current flyweight submission grappling king, Mikey Musumeci.
'Darth Rigatoni' moves up three weight classes in a bid to become ONE's first-ever two-division grappling world titleholder.
Will Musumeci make history on martial arts' biggest global stage, or will Ruotolo keep both his 'O' and his gold intact in The Mile High City?
Follow this link for tickets for ONE 168: Denver on September 6 at Ball Arena.