"The next big mountain is MMA" - Kade Ruotolo seeking MMA greatness after conquering the BJJ world
Kade Ruotolo is on a never-ending quest for self-improvement and is constantly searching for the next challenge to conquer.
Along with his twin brother and fellow ONE world champion Tye Ruotolo, the 21-year-old savant has pretty much achieved everything there is at the highest levels of grappling.
Not one to rest on his laurels, Ruotolo embarked on a new martial arts journey, a path that led him to mixed martial arts.
The reigning lightweight submission grappling kingpin told MMA Junkie in a recent 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."
Kade Ruotolo proved his grappling prowess was tailor-fit for MMA when he made quick work of Blake Cooper at ONE 170 last June.
The Atos standout will look to build on that impressive MMA debut in his sophomore outing against Ahmed Mujtaba this coming Nov. 8 at ONE 169: Malykhin vs Reug Reug at Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.
Watch Kade Ruotolo's interview in its entirety:
Kade Ruotolo relishing the feeling of being a 'white belt' again in MMA
While Kade Ruotolo does have the grappling aspect covered, he's still admittedly a newbie when it comes to the other nuances of MMA.
The youngest ADCC world champion, though, takes everything in stride and is always seeking new knowledge, especially with his striking training. He shared in a clip on B-Team jiu-jitsu's YouTube channel:
"To be entirely honest, I'm super excited for MMA. That's what gets me out of bed in the morning excited. It's mixed martial arts...and I love jiu-jitsu with all my heart, it just will forever be part of my life. But there's something about MMA that just excites me."
ONE 169: Malykhin vs Reug Reug will air live in US Primetime free of charge for Prime Video subscribers in the United States and Canada.