“The focus has been on me” - Kade Ruotolo would rather work on his skills than worry about Ahmed Mujtaba’s strengths
ONE lightweight submission grappling world champion Kade Ruotolo has never been the type to fixate on his opponents' capabilities. Instead, the 21-year-old phenom uses all his energy to keep sharpening his own blade and make his foes worry about what he's going to do.
Ruotolo will bring the same mindset heading into his second foray into mixed martial arts. The CJI under -80kg world champion will don the four-ounce gloves anew against Ahmed 'Wolverine' Mujtaba at ONE 169: Malykhin vs. 'Reug Reug' on Nov. 8 inside the iconic Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.
In a recent interview with the MMA Junkie, Ruotolo admitted that he briefly scouted his Pakistani adversary's tendencies but mostly worked on his all-around skills in training camp:
"Watched a couple of clips, just to kind of see what his go-to punches are and things like that. But, you know, honestly, the focus has been on me as far as what I’m going to do."
A big reason for Kade Ruotolo's success in the grappling world is his innate ability to put pressure on his opponents and impose his will.
Being passive has never been in the Atos standout's vocabulary, and he has no plans to let Mujtaba dictate the pace at ONE 169.
The full event will air live in US primetime free of charge for Prime Video subscribers in the United States and Canada.
Kade Ruotolo wants to reach the highest levels of MMA after conquering BJJ
There's a reason why Kade Ruotolo and his twin brother Tye are called the youngest veterans in Brazilian jiu-jitsu.
At just 21 years old, the pair have already accomplished almost every major accolade in the grappling scene.
That said, the youngest ADCC world champion now seeks to reach the same heights in his transition to MMA. Ruotolo said in the same interview:
"I feel like in jiu-jitsu, I've gotten to the top of the mountain, you know, in the most humble way possible. My brother and I, we've pretty much accomplished everything you can in jiu-jitsu. So with that being said, the next big mountain is MMA."
Watch Kade Ruotolo's full interview with MMA Junkie: