Mikey Musumeci is determined to put on the absolute best submission grappling match of the year when he faces Kade Ruotolo in a super fight in Denver. The reigning ONE flyweight submission grappling world champion will jump two weight classes up to challenge Ruotolo for the lightweight submission grappling throne at ONE 168: Denver on September 6 inside the Ball Arena.
ONE 168: Denver marks the second time ONE Championship holds a major card in the United States after its highly successful ONE Fight Night 10 showing in May 2023.
ONE Championship recently shared the interaction between Ruotolo and Musumeci on Instagram, and 'Darth Rigatoni' doubled down on his promise to deliver a showstopper in Colorado.
"This will be the best match of 2024 in all of jiu-jitsu," wrote Mikey Musumeci on the comments section.
Musumeci and Ruotolo are often considered two of the greatest submission grapplers of their generation, and the pair share multiple BJJ world titles between them.
Apart from his ONE lightweight submission grappling world championship, Ruotolo holds titles under Eddie Bravo Invitational, Who's Number One, and the ADCC. Musumeci, meanwhile, held five IBJJF world titles before signing with ONE Championship in 2022.
Tickets for ONE 168: Denver are available at Ticketmaster.
Kade Ruotolo shares the same sentiments with Mikey Musumeci on delivering a good show at ONE 168
Kade Ruotolo has always been adamant about putting excitement as a priority when he fights, and he plans to do exactly that when he defends his ONE lightweight submission grappling world title against Mikey Musumeci.
The 21-year-old phenom shared the same mindset with Musumeci in terms of putting on an explosive submission grappling match in Denver this September.
In an interview on the Talk-Jitsu Podcast, Ruotolo said his match against Musumeci will be between two of the best pound-for-pound submission grapplers on the planet:
"I love jiu-jitsu, I love my job, and I'm down to fight anyone as often as possible. That definitely wasn't a match that I was asking for, but it's a matchup that people want to see. A lot of people consider him as one of the pound-for-pound best, right? So that's what they're gonna get," said Ruotolo.