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Kade Ruotolo is excited to truly begin what could be the next phase of his career when he returns to action under the ONE Championship banner.
The ONE lightweight submission grappling world champion has made an incredible name for himself as one of the very best grapplers in the world. However, throughout his time with the promotion, he has constantly spoken about wanting to try his hand at MMA in the near future.
Having spent time training in striking throughout his life, Kade Ruotolo has been confident in his ability to cross over into this skillset. The time has finally arrived at ONE 167. He takes on Blake Cooper inside the Impact Arena on June 7 for his MMA debut.
Ruotolo is happy to test his skills but he isn't getting carried away with setting his sights on the very top just yet.
He told FightersOnly in a recent interview that taking each challenge as it comes is his main focus right now to gauge where he is at in MMA:
"I'm definitely not taking anybody lightly. I'm super fired up. It's been a long time coming."
Kade Ruotolo has the benefit of being a world champion in another sport
The submission grappling career of Kade Ruotolo is going to set him up well for competing in MMA in several different ways.
Of course, it gives him a huge advantage over any opponent if the fight hits the floor at any point and people are forced to try and compete with his jiu-jitsu.
However, what might get overlooked is how competing at the highest level of submission grappling will serve him well when it comes to the mental side of stepping into MMA.
Kade Ruotolo isn't going to get ahead of himself and rush into anything because he knows what it takes to make it to the top.
His first step in climbing the ladder comes on June 7 and until that is done and dusted with a win under his belt, there is nothing on the other side.
ONE 167 will air live from the Impact Arena in Bangkok, Thailand.
