Kade Ruotolo admits to “falling in love” with striking amid impending move to MMA

ONE lightweight submission grappling world champion Kade Ruotolo is a true disciple of the grappling arts but admits that striking has recently caught his fancy.

Along with his twin brother Tye Ruotolo, the 20-year-old Kade entered ONE Championship last year with the intent to compete in submission grappling and eventually mixed martial arts.

That transition will be coming sooner rather than later for Kade, who intends to make his MMA debut before the year ends, as revealed by Tye.

In a recent interview with ONE Championship, the Atos standout stated that apart from jiu-jitsu, he has been training Muay Thai from a young age:

“So we've been training a bit more, mixing it up. You know, growing up, my brother and I always kind of dabbled around striking and Muay Thai things like that, but I didn't really start taking it as seriously until, you know, the last year or so. And now I'm falling in love with it.”

While the Ruotolos are both keen on taking every challenger they have in submission grappling, they also want to broaden their horizons and test themselves in another sport.

Truth be told, the siblings’ hands are looking good in some of the clips they shared online, as they were seen effortlessly punishing the pads with some crisp combinations.

In the meantime, Kade Ruotolo has some business to attend to first in his division this coming June 9.

He’ll be defending his 26 pounds of gold at ONE Fight Night 11 against formidable challenger Tommy Langaker.

These two have engaged in some heated back-and-forth, which should make their all-grappling war a definite must-watch.

ONE Fight Night 11: Eersel vs. Menshikov on Prime Video will emanate from the Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok and stream live and free for Amazon Prime Video users in North America.