“I’m going to be entering the fire” – Kade Ruotolo says he’d tackle Tommy Langaker’s back-take head-on

After the way his first encounter with Tommy Langaker played out, it’s no surprise that Kade Ruotolo is confident ahead of ONE 165.

The two men are set to compete in a rematch on January 28 with Ruotolo’s ONE lightweight submission grappling world championship on the line once again.

They previously met at ONE Fight Night 11 last June where the champion was victorious by staying a step ahead of his opponent at all times and keeping him on the defensive.

Having felt what his opponent brings to the table, Ruotolo isn’t overly concerned about the dangers that he presents to other world-class grapplers.

The lightweight submission grappling king told ONE Championship that he intends to face his former foe head-on this time around in order to leave the global stage with a statement.

He said:

“You know, there are guys that tend to run from him, he tries to chain it into a back-take, and he’s good at that. However, I’m not going to be fleeing. I’m going to be entering the fire.”

Kade Ruotolo will hunt for the finish at ONE 165

There will be a lot of talk going into ONE 165 about the improvements Tommy Langaker can make in the rematch, but the same can be said for Kade Ruotolo.

It isn’t just the challenger who can learn from the first match-up and make adjustments to be better the second time of asking.

Ruotolo is looking to put his challenger away on January 28 to end this chapter of his title reign, even though Norway’s Langaker is notoriously hard to submit.

Having already beaten him once before, Ruotolo’s motivation in this contest is to do it again but even more decisively.

ONE 165 airs live on Sunday, January 28, via global pay-per-view on watch.onefc.com.