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ONE Championship's Kade and Tye Ruotolo, better known as the Ruotolo brothers, are quite the personifications of the word "prodigy". The two have been training jiu-jitsu since they were toddlers and and have taken the sport by storm with their steady rise up the ranks.
Due to their greateness at a very young age, the talented twins earned the distinction of being considered jiu-jitsu's first-ever sibling child stars.
The Ruotolo twins have submitted high-level blackbelts in competition when they were just purple belts. They are a rarity in the sport. Now that they are blackbelts themselves, the Ruotolos are considered two of the most dangerous grapplers in the world.
In a reaction video uploaded to YouTube by ONE Championship, the Ruotolo brothers compared old footage of themselves discussing how their grappling game had improved. Needless to say, we heard some interesting takes.
One of the more interesting parts of the video was when the two were asked what their favorite submission was. As young boys, both Kade and Tye said they loved the D'Arce choke.
As an adult, Tye said:
"So weird, we’re training in the Gi but we love the D’arce. My favorite technique, I think, will always be the D’arce."
Kade added:
"I think I’d be lying if I said it would be anything else [than the D’arce]. Because I think I use it more than anything else."
The Ruotolo brothers' love for the same submission has not changed despite training for almost 16 years now. This statement says so much about what it means to be great in this sport.
The highest-level blackbelts use the same techniques they've been using since they were white belts , only much deadlier now. That's years and years and thousands of hours of drills on the mat.
As the great Bruce Lee once said: "I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times."
Watch the full interview with the Ruotolo brothers below:
The Ruotolo brothers went 2-0 in their ONE Championship debut at ONE 157
The Ruotolo brothers made a huge splash on the world stage as they absolutely dominated two grappling legends at ONE 157. Kade wiped the floor with Japanese MMA and grappling legend Shinya Aoki while Tye swiftly submitted grappling icon Garry Tonon.
The grappling world's most dangerous twins brought their trademark aggression to the circle as they dazzled the audience with their fast-paced attacks. Kade did some stuff that we swear we've never seen done in a submission grappling match. Aoki never stood a chance nor was he able to score any legitimate submission attempts throughout the match.
As for Tye, well, he effectively shook the foundations of modern jiu-jitsu by soundly submitting a legend, Garry Tonon. After thwarting Tonon's trademark leglock attempt, Tye slapped on his favorite D'Arce choke and made the icon tap within mere seconds.
With wins and performances like these, we can be sure that the Ruotolo brothers will be sitting comfortably atop the ONE Championship grappling ranks for a considerable amount of time.
