"I'm beyond ready" - Kade Ruotolo says his MMA scrap with Blake Cooper won't make it past the first round

Kade Ruotolo is itching to make the walk at ONE 167 to showcase his skills in the beginning of a new chapter in his career. Since arriving in ONE Championship as one of the best submission grapplers in the world, the lightweight champion has spoken about a big switch he was looking to make.

Several months ago, he pulled the trigger on making a transition to MMA after putting in the hard work in the gym for some time to work on his overall game. On June 7, he takes on Blake Cooper in his MMA debut at the Impact Arena in what will likely be the first of many steps.

Kade has the confidence in both his strikes, and of course his submissions, to make him predict an early finish in this fight. He said at the ONE 167 press conference that he is raring to go and is looking to put his opponent away inside the opening round:

"That's a tough question, we're probably pretty equal out there. Regardless of what happens, I don't think this is making out the first round. I can almost assure you that. This camp has pretty much gone as good as possible, and I just feel not ready, I'm beyond ready."

Watch the full ONE 167 press conference below:

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Kade Ruotolo has all the potential in the world

Kade Ruotolo doesn't come from a background of amateur pedigree in MMA like many exciting prospects that are making their pro debuts. However, what he does have is a career as one of the best grapplers in the world at just 21 years old.

Having started training alongside his brother at an extremely young age, he has more experience on the mats than world-class competitors that are twice his age.

The big question is how well is he able to transfer these skills over into MMA whilst working on his striking at the same time.

ONE 167 will air live in US primetime on June 7 and is free to watch for North American viewers with an existing Prime Video subscription.