“Strong positional dominance” – Kade Ruotolo on what earned him a victory over Tommy Langaker in ONE 165 rematch

ONE lightweight submission grappling world champion Kade Ruotolo did not get the submission finish he was looking for in his title rematch against Tommy Langaker over the weekend. But he was still satisfied with the unanimous decision win, which he said he achieved through strong positional dominance.

The 21-year-old American grappling ace dominated his Norwegian challenger in their title rematch at ONE 165: Superlek vs. Takeru on Jan. 28 in Tokyo, Japan.

Ruotolo did not allow Langaker to fully get his game going, reducing the latter to being on the defensive for much of their 10-minute clash, where he had a number of submission attempts.

In the post-fight interview session, the Atos standout shared that while the win was not through submission as he had hoped, it was still a solid performance from him, and the win was well deserved.

He said:

“So, aside from positional dominance, I think I was [in good positions] from like the crucifix, side control, a lot of strong positional dominance. I have to rewatch the footage, but a lot of submission attempts and a lot of very close ones for sure.

"That D’arce was super close. That was probably the closest. I remember I got into a really tight armbar, that triangle right at the end.”

The win was the third successful defense of Kade Ruotolo of the world title he won in October 2022, the last two over Langaker. He now has an unblemished 5-0 record in ONE Championship.

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Kade Ruotolo hails resiliency of Tommy Langaker in title rematch

While he dominated his way to the unanimous decision victory in their title rematch at the weekend, Kade Ruotolo was still impressed with the performance of Tommy Langaker, particularly how the latter showed so much resilience.

The ONE lightweight submission grappling world champion retained his championship belt by defeating once again Norwegian challenger Langaker at ONE 165 on Jan. 28 in Japan by unanimous decision.

It was Ruotolo’s second consecutive victory over his rival after his decision win in their first title clash back in June.

As he basked in his victory at ONE 165 inside the ring, the reigning champion also took time to give props to his opponent, saying:

“Full respect to Tommy. He’s an amazing jiu-jitsu competitor. Not a whole lot surprised me as far as attacks go, but his resilience this time around was really impressive. Not an easy guy to put away by any means.”

Apart from retaining his world title, Ruotolo’s performance also won him another $50,000 performance bonus from ONE Chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong.