Kade Ruotolo lauds Matheus Gabriel’s toughness and pain threshold

Kade Ruotolo delivered a showstopping performance at ONE on Prime Video 5. The 19-year-old submission grappling prodigy successfully defended his ONE submission grappling world championship against IBJJ Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ) champion Matheus Gabriel.

Though Ruotolo didn’t get the submission, he was nothing short of dominant during the 10-minute contest in the co-main event of the evening. Following his win, the BJJ phenom spoke to the media at the ONE on Prime Video 5 post-fight press conference and shared his thoughts on Gabriel’s toughness:

“I did after I felt that pop a couple of times. I put my hips in even more as hard as I could. And I thought for sure he was going to tap but there is a lot of those type of guys who are style guard players, they've been through, they let their legs break so many times. They're almost painless.”

Kade Ruotolo continued, saying:

“So I wouldn't say painless, but they just let it go. You know, there's a classic situation, in our first ADCC, my brother followed me up, one of the nastiest leg breaks I've ever seen, and just didn't tap, those guys are crazy. They'd rather die than tap. So I was definitely surprised that he didn't tap though, for sure.”

Watch the full interview below:

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Kade Ruotolo and his brother Tye are always looking to improve their skills

Like any true champion would, Kade Ruotolo and his brother Tye are always looking to improve their submission grappling skills, even as they continue to emerge as two of the absolute best Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioners in the world today. Following their victories over the weekend, the two brothers immediately began sharing notes on opportunities for improvement:

"My brother and I, I think, in the most humble way possible, we see ourselves as the best in the world at our weight, you know. So the first discussion we had, after both of our matches, are what were our mistakes. And we made sure to tell each other our mistakes, we're never too shy about that."

Since making their debut at ONE 157 in May, the brothers have gone a combined 5-0 with three submission wins between them. Still technically teenagers, the submission grappling prodigies are sure to be a big part of ONE Championship’s future for many years to come.