“My job is to get the submission” – Tommy Langaker rues missed chance to dethrone Kade Ruotolo in their first encounter

Former ONE lightweight submission grappling world title challenger Tommy Langaker will have a second shot at gold at ONE 165 on January 28.

After his nail-biting match with divisional king Kade Ruotolo won ONE's submission grappling Match of the Year award in 2023, the Norwegian BJJ black belt got the rematch.

In his first bout against Ruotolo, Tommy Langaker sat with a comfortable lead on the scorecards for most of the match. The world champion had to dig deep to rally back late and win a comeback unanimous decision victory.

On the missed opportunity to win the match or finish his submission attempts, Tommy Langaker told ONE:

“So I felt I was the one trying to be offensive in regards to submission attempts.”

He continued:

“I’m not complaining about it. I never will complain about it. My job is to get the submission.”

Langaker has strong winner's mindset. Instead of complaining for not getting the job done the first time, he chose to assess his performance and move forward with his lessons learned.

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Tommy Langaker is grateful to be given a shot at redemption at ONE 165

Langaker, after piling two wins outside of ONE Championship, has been given another chance to fight for Ruotolo's belt. This makes him undoubtedly grateful for the rematch.

With the thrilling back-and-forth nature of his bout with Ruotolo, it's not surprising that ONE booked the rematch as a treat to fans. More importantly, however, it's a chance for both warriors to seek redemption.

Langaker told ONE:

“I felt how he felt, and I know his style. I know what to be aware of, and I’m just glad I get the chance of redemption and show what I can do.”

At this point, we are quite positive that both men know each other's game so well that this rematch will be a chessmatch for the ages.

ONE 165: Superlek vs. Takeru will air live on Sunday, January 28, via global pay-per-view on watch.onefc.com.