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ONE flyweight world champion Adriano Moraes is way deep into his training camp for his epic rematch with MMA legend Demetrious Johnson on August 26. Part of his preparation seemingly involved training with two of the most dangerous grapplers in jiujitsu today, the Ruotolo brothers.
No footage of their training has surfaced yet but the three have been seen training in the same gym and hanging out a lot together. They even did a lot of skateboarding together:
Make no mistake, however, the Ruotolo brothers aren't hanging out with 'Mikinho' to teach him some cool skating tricks. They're imparting to him their highly evolved jiujitsu knowledge.
Speaking to ONE Championship, Moraes described his experience with the prodigious twins:
“I trained with them, yes. I arrived at RVCA to train, and they were already there. I got on the mat and asked them a lot of questions because they have more modern jiu-jitsu positions. They’re following this evolution.”
'Mikinho' continued:
“They were very humble and nice to me. They received me very well. And soon after, we trained. I trained with everybody, I trained with them, with [ONE Atomweight world champion] Angela Lee, too. It was very cool.”
If his time with Kade and Tye Ruotolo is any indication, expect Moraes' already marvelous jiujitsu to be even more lethal.
Adriano Moraes believes Kade and Tye Ruotolo possess a "completely modern and evolved jiu-jitsu"
Despite already having a jiujitsu blackbelt himself, Adriano Moraes understands that art evolves exponentially almost every few years. The grapplers from five years ago are light years apart from the ones that are excelling and changing the game today.
On jiujitsu's evolution with athletes like the Ruotolo brothers, Adriano Moraes had this to say:
“Jiu-jitsu evolves every week and being able to train with these young promising [talents] – young champions with a completely modern and evolved jiu-jitsu – is a really cool experience. And they [Ruotolo brothers] are superstars. They are very talented and have very technical jiu-jitsu.”
Moraes is no slouch on the ground. Half of his wins came by way of submissions, and much of his MMA game is centered on his debilitating grappling prowess. For him to seek the expertise of two 19-year-old athletes to elevate his ground game says so much about the skill level of the Ruotolo brothers.
