“As natural as possible” – Kade Ruotolo says goal is to always showcase ‘the true essence of jiu-jitsu’

ADCC world champion and current ONE world titleholder Kade Ruotolo always strives to showcase the true essence of jiu-jitsu every time he steps onto the mat.

On January 28, he’ll look to do that once again when he heads to Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Japan, to defend his ONE lightweight submission grappling world championship against Norwegian grappling standout Tommy Langaker.

Their ONE 165 clash will serve as a rematch after the two BJJ superstars tussled in June.

That evening, Ruotolo came out on top, scoring a unanimous decision victory over Langaker in an entertaining 10-minute chess match.

With only a few weeks until his highly anticipated return, Ruotolo made an appearance on The Fighter and The Kid podcast to share his thoughts on the art form of jiu-jitsu and what he believes to be the true essence of the sport.

“The true essence of jiu-jitsu, at least, always was the smaller guy beating the bigger guy. That’s the main reason why we're known as like the roots, that's why we try to keep it as roots, you know, as natural as possible.”

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Kade Ruotolo looks to pad his impressive resume at ONE 165

Making his ONE Championship debut in May 2022, Kade Ruotolo immediately made a name for himself with an impressive showing against Japanese MMA icon Shinya Aoki.

From there, he has bested a who’s who of notable grappling talent inside the Circle, including four-time Sambo world champion Uali Kurzhev, IBJJF champion Matheus Gabriel, and the aforementioned Tommy Langaker.

Ruotolo's title defense against Langaker will represent his first rematch with the promotion.

Will the 20-year-old BJJ prodigy claim his fifth-straight win under the ONE banner, or will 121-win veteran Tommy Langaker finally win the big one and claim 26 pounds of championship gold?

Check your local listings or visit ONE Championship's official website on how to watch ONE 165 from your location. Fans in the United States and Canada can catch the event via pay-per-view on watch.onefc.com.