"I'm extremely confident and excited" - Kade Ruotolo relishing chance to open MMA account vs. Blake Cooper

ONE Fight Night 21 was a significant moment for Kade Ruotolo that is only going to lead to bigger things in the near future.

April 5 marked the a real pause in his submission grappling career for the time being as the world champion will now turn his attention to a new pursuit.

At ONE 167 on June 7, Kade will make his MMA debut against Blake Cooper at the Impact Arena in Bangkok. The lightweight submission grappling king has spoken a lot about wanting to make the switch, but now the time has finally arrived to seal the deal.

Kade previewed the fight in an interview with Nick Atkin for Sportskeeda, where he spoke about his opponent for the matchup and the respect he has for him:

"Yeah, absolutely, I'm pumped for it. You know, he's a beast, for sure. The entire Cooper family, you know, they're a family of legends. A lot of respect for them coming out of Hawaii, you know, there's some scrappers out there, for sure. And, you know, I'm extremely confident and excited."

Watch the full interview below:

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Kade Ruotolo fired up for this new challenge

Kade Ruotolo has been motivated by this MMA dream for some time now, but this is when it all becomes serious.

He has continued to split his attention between MMA and submission grappling in training, but now that ONE 167 is in his sights, he has a clear priority.

His performance at ONE Fight Night 21 against Francisco Lo showed that he is still at the top of his game in grappling, but MMA brings a whole new challenge and that is exciting for a world class competitor like Kade.

Seeing how he is able to compliment his elite grappling with the striking skills that fans are yet to get a good look at will be truly fascinating.

North American viewers with an active Prime Video subscription can rewatch all the action from ONE Fight Night 21 via the free on demand replay.