“We got no bad vibes” - Kade Ruotolo says animosity doesn’t exist between him and Mikey Musumeci
As Kade Ruotolo marches toward one of the biggest matches of his submission grappling career, the reigning ONE world champion assures us that there is no animosity between himself and Mikey Musumeci.
After making his successful mixed martial arts debut, earning a first-round submission victory over Blake Cooper at ONE 167, Ruotolo will return to the Circle for a champion vs. champion clash with Musumeci at ONE 168: Denver on Friday, September 6.
Ruotolo will put his ONE lightweight submission grappling world championship on the line as 'Darth Rigatoni' moves up three weight classes from his post as the current ONE flyweight submission grappling world titleholder.
Speaking with Cageside Press ahead of their highly anticipated encounter, Kade Ruotolo made it clear that there is no bad blood between himself and the New Jersey native.
"So yeah, we got no bad vibes or anything like that," Ruotolo said. "Just two technical athletes going at it, you know."
Watch the interview below:
Mikey Musumeci and Kade Ruotolo put their 'O' on the line at ONE 168: Denver
Kade Ruotolo and Mikey Musumeci will both go into ONE 168: Denver with perfect 7-0 records.
Making his promotional debut a month before Ruotolo, 'Darth Rigatoni' has put together an impressive run inside the Circle, earning noteworthy wins over the likes of interim ONE strawweight MMA world champion Jarred Brooks, Japanese legend Shinya Aoki, and multi-time BJJ gold-medalist Gabriel Sousa.
Along the way, Musumeci etched his name in the history books as the first-ever ONE flyweight submission grappling king.
Like Musumeci, Ruotolo was the inaugural champion of his division, submitting Uali Kurzhez in less than five minutes to capture the lightweight submission grappling crown. Since then, he's gone on to defeat Tommy Langaker in back-to-back bouts and Francisco Lo in his latest grappling match under the ONE banner.
Who comes out on top when two of the greatest grapplers in the world meet on martial arts' biggest global stage?
Follow this link for tickets for ONE 168: Denver on September 6 at Ball Arena.