Kade Ruotolo ONE Championship: "Levels to this game" - Kade Ruotolo's lightning submission duel against Uali Kurzhev has fans hyped for the grappling game

ONE Championship crowned its inaugural lightweight submission grappling world champion when Kade Rutolo and Uali Kurzhev collided for the 26-pound golden belt in October 2022 at ONE on Prime Video 3 at the Axiata Arena in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

The world's largest martial arts organization reposted the best moments of the match on Instagram with the caption:

"Grappling genius 🥋🌟 BJJ megastar Kade Ruotolo brought his A-game against sambo master Uali Kurzhev! @ruotolobrothersjiujitsu"

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The American BJJ phenom finished the job in under five minutes of the match by submitting his Russian opponent with a heel hook. Before this finish, Ruotolo came close to tapping Kurzhev with a rear-naked choke earlier in the match.

This fast-paced and high-octane match by Ruotolo and Kurzhev was lauded by fans, as users @boubred__amine, @srchrisjames, @savagetonejiujitsu, and @ajr_cloud9000 praised them for an action-packed bout with their comments:

"It's crazy how there is levels to this game"

"I don't watch grappling really and this came up on my feed and I was blown away by the level of skill these two have."

"Beautiful jiu-jitsu"

"Great match! Solid defense. Insane pace as usual by @kaderuotolo"

Kade Ruotolo gives credit to his team for helping with smooth MMA transition

The Atos representative is coming off his second straight MMA victory against Ahmed Mujtaba on Nov. 8 at ONE 169 in front of the packed Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand. He moved to 2-0 in MMA and maintained his perfect record in ONE Championship.

Following that latest triumph, Ruotolo revealed during the post-event conference that the biggest credit for his smooth transition to mixed martial arts ruleset was his coaches, as they constantly give him the confidence he needs.

The 21-year-old combat sports phenom stated:

"First of all, props to God, as well as my coaches, I really wouldn't have been able to do this without my coaches, Tyler Wombles, Eric Paulson, and my brother. They're giving me so much confidence on the feet, and changing me as a fighter every single day."

About the author

Anatoly is an MMA writer with six years of experience. He covers ONE Championship at Sportskeeda, where he has contributed over 1000 pieces. He previously served as the lead MMA writer for BetMGM’s blog.

Anatoly holds a bachelor's degree in communication, which he feels has had a significant impact on his career.

Jon Jones’ submission win over Lyoto Machida at UFC 140 in 2011 got him hooked to MMA. His favorite fighters include Eduard Folayang, Demetrious Johnson, Georges St-Pierre, Anderson Silva, and Khabib Nurmagomedov.

Anatoly provides Sportskeeda with exclusive pieces and has previously interviewed the former ONE flyweight MMA world champion, Adriano Moraes. While writing his pieces, he follows an extensive research process, referring only to credible sources like the UFC’s official website, Sherdog, and ESPN. He also likes to provide insights to his readers by keeping in mind important pillars of communication like media literacy and audience dynamics.

Anatoly advocates for a healthy and fit lifestyle by including boxing in his routine. He also loves to travel.

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Edited by Harvey Leonard