Kade Ruotolo working on full striking arsenal to round out MMA game: "As many weapons as I can on the feet"
ONE lightweight submission grappling world champion Kade Ruotolo makes his sophomore outing in MMA on Nov. 8, and he has the perfect plan to make life hell for his opposite number. The 21-year-old steps inside the Lumpinee Stadium at ONE 169 to face Pakistan standout Ahmed Mujtaba in a lightweight MMA scrap.
To get himself ready, he's gone the extra mile to upgrade his striking weapons, which the superstar believes will help him spring a surprise in Bangkok, Thailand.
Speaking to MMA Junkie, Kade Ruotolo shared:
"[I'm] just trying to build as much as I can, as many weapons as I can on the feet. That way my opponent's not gonna just be worried about the grappling. And when he is worried about the feet, I'd bring it back to the grappling."
After conquering the Brazilian jiu-jitsu realm, with the promotion's 26 pounds of gold and the 2022 ADCC world championship among some of his top accolades, the Atos representative decided to try his hands at something new that would provide him the opportunity to learn and grow.
With MMA giving him the opportunity to mix up various disciplines at one go, Kade had his mind set on giving it a try.
The youngster has since enjoyed a victorious debut in the sport, coming against Blake Cooper at ONE 167 (via submission), and now he hopes to pull a 2-0 lead when he returns to the Mecca of Muay Thai to face Mujtaba on Nov. 8.
Watch his full interview on MMA Junkie here:
Kade Ruotolo doesn't want to rely solely on his specialty to get the job done at ONE 169
While he promises to utilize his world-class grappling, Kade Ruotolo will try to keep the action standing for as long as he can.
In the same interview, the ONE world champion went on to add:
"I'm definitely not going to look to just grapple him right away, you know. I don't want it to feel like a jiu-jitsu match."
ONE 169 will be available to active Amazon Prime Video subscribers in North America.