“I burned out my arms” – Kade Ruotolo rues missed chance to submit Tommy Langaker in their rematch at ONE 165

Kade Ruotolo admits he got too ahead of himself after synching in what appeared to be an air-tight D’Arce choke against Tommy Langaker at ONE 165 last Sunday.

That overeagerness backfired, as Langaker eventually escaped from the 21-year-old’s signature hold and avoided getting submitted.

Despite not getting the tap, Ruotolo still put on a dominating performance, using superior guard passing and insane transitions to earn the unanimous decision victory and retain his ONE lightweight submission grappling world championship.

After keeping his 26 pounds of gold intact, Ruotolo said he was much more satisfied with the win this time around after a too-close-for-comfort encounter with Langaker in their first match last year.

The Atos standout said during his ONE 165 in-ring interview with Mitch Chilson:

“I felt I was definitely a lot more dominant this time around. I had a lot of good submissions, but like I said, I think I kinda burned out my arms a little bit on that first D’Arce attempt.”

Hanging too long on submission attempts is indeed a double-edged sword. Ruotolo can attest to this since his arms nearly gave out after trying to squeeze the life out of Langaker.

While the challenger deserves some props after weathering the storm, his face turned a visible shade of red from the pressure.

The referee also saw it as the most significant attack of the bout, awarding it as a “catch”, or a legitimate submission attempt, which solidified Kade Ruotolo’s decisive victory after 10 minutes of non-stop action.

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Is Kade Ruotolo ready to take his talents to MMA?

Now with three successful world title defenses to his name, it’s safe to say that Kade Ruotolo has already proven himself as the best 170-pound grappler in the world.

Now, fans are curious to see if his phenomenal grappling repertoire will translate to mixed martial arts.

The youngest IBJJF world champion has been quite vocal about his desire to lace up the four-ounce gloves, and his long-awaited MMA debut should come sooner rather than later.