ONE Championship's Kade Ruotolo details Ryan Garcia confrontation – with Nate Diaz playing peacemaker
ONE Championship grappling icon Kade Ruotolo has detailed an alleged recent physical confrontation with boxing star Ryan Garcia – with UFC legend Nate Diaz the apparent peacemaker.
Lightweight submission grappling king Ruotolo is in Bangkok with his twin brother Tye Ruotolo, who faces Jozef Chen in a 186 pounds catchweight matchup on Saturday morning's ONE Fight Night 23 card.
But after a recent Gi super fight in California, the 21-year-old American Kade said he went to find some dessert with his sister, his girlfriend and a friend downtown in Huntington Beach, where they bumped into Diaz. Kade told Sportskeeda:
"We see Nate Diaz and his whole crew walk by and we’re like, 'What? No way'. We start rapping out, swapping stories. I went to get a photo with him, and it was all good vibes."
But Kade said "out of nowhere" the 25-year-old Garcia then "hopped out of some Escalade with a couple of his boys" before approaching him.
"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."
Kade claimed Garcia then called for backup, adding:
"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.'"
The 39-year-old American Diaz then intervened, according to Kade.
"I think at first [Garcia] definitely didn't know who I was, but then Nate was trying to tell him like, 'Yo bro, he’s gonna f*** you up', and I was like, 'I'm going to.' And that's when he realized something was going on."
Garcia then apparently backed down. Kade said:
"He ended up apologizing and saying, 'You’d probably break my arm', all this stuff. I think it was just a drunken night for him."
Kade's proficiency on the ground is well known, but he also showed that he is no slouch on the feet, either, making a successful MMA debut last month at ONE 167 in Bangkok at a sold out Impact Arena, where he finished Blake Cooper.
His brother Tye is also eyeing a switch to MMA by the end of the year – ideally when ONE comes to the United States in September and November. ONE's welterweight submission grappling champ told Sportskeeda:
"I’m not gonna talk up my standup until I get in the ring, but the plan is always the same – take down, pass, submit. But I have a feeling that when I get in there I will want to throw some punches, for sure. Atlanta or Denver, I'd love to make one of those my MMA debut. I always love fighting on the same card as my brother, we feed off each other’s energy."
Indeed, Kade has a grappling super-fight with flyweight champ Mikey Musumeci on September 6 at ONE 168 inside Colorado's Ball Arena.
For Tye, he must first get past 19-year-old Taiwanese-German phenom Chen at Lumpinee Stadium this weekend. Tye said:
“He’s a super formidable opponent, super tough. Really, really good technique. A lot of my recent matches have been against strong, physical guys, so I'm really excited to have a match against a guy who’s gonna make me think. I asked for a title defence, I love defending my belt. But this was one of the stipulations. So we’re doing it at 186. I'm just trying to stay busy, so I'll do whatever I have to do to make it happen. For me, this is still like a title fight."