ONE Championship: Kade Ruotolo certain Tye is ‘more than ready’ for inevitable MMA debut
After making his own move to mixed martial arts last month, Kade Ruotolo believes his brother and fellow ONE world champion, Tye Ruotolo, is more than ready to follow in his footsteps and strap on the four-ounce gloves.
After dominating the world of BJJ and capturing the ONE lightweight submission grappling world championship, Kade Ruotolo decided to test out his skills in MMA, making the transition at ONE 167 inside the sold-out Impact Arena in Bangkok, Thailand.
There, Ruotolo squared off with American standout Blake Cooper — brother to two-time welterweight champion Ray Cooper III.
Ruotolo looked nothing short of impressive, taking Cooper to the mat and submitting him at the 3:20 mark of the contest.
Speaking with Sportskeeda MMA, Kade Ruotolo offered some thoughts on Tye Ruotolo's inevitable move to mixed martial arts, saying:
"Tye’s right there with me, you know, we’ve always kind of excelled at the same rates, and everything that we do, it seems like, you know, the same. So when it comes up to MMA, it’s no different. He's more than ready alright."
Kade Ruotolo puts his title on the line against Mikey Musuemci in a submission superfight at ONE 168
Now that his mixed martial arts debut is done, Kade Ruotolo will turn his attention toward his next ONE world title defense.
On Friday, September 8, Ruotolo will head to The Mile High City — Denver, Colorado — for perhaps the biggest submission grappling showdown in ONE Championship history.
ONE 168: Denver will see Ruotolo put his ONE lightweight submission grappling world title on the line against current flyweight titleholder and BJJ icon Mikey Musumeci.
Both men will put their 'O' on the line as Musumeci moves up three weight classes for the opportunity to etch his name in the history books by becoming ONE Championship's first-ever two-division submission grappling world champion.
Follow this link for tickets for ONE 168: Denver on September 6 at Ball Arena.