“This guy is crazy” - Chatri Sityodtong reveals how Kade Ruotolo offered to fight Shinya Aoki in MMA after Sage Northcutt pulled out

Ambition can push a regular person to find it within themselves to reach heights that they never would have thought of and Kade Ruotolo seems to be in no shortage of ambition.

At ONE 165, the ONE lightweight submission grappling world champion was already scheduled to rematch his rival in Tommy Langaker in the co-main event, but according to ONE Championship Chairman & CEO Chatri Sityodtong, Ruotolo also wanted to go up against Shinya Aoki in MMA.

For context, Aoki’s original opponent, Sage Northcutt, pulled out of their scheduled bout due to visa issues with his cornermen and Sityodtong narrated how Ruotolo offered himself to fight Aoki:

“In my 12 years, running hundreds of events, thousands of athletes, I’ve never had anybody say, ‘Give me a fight!’ right?! Two different men in the same night. This guy is crazy.”

An energetic Ruotolo then responded:

“I was shadowboxing before my fight!’

Sityodtong would then explain why they ultimately decided against it:

“I was in the hallway and I was like, ‘Do I do it?’ I’m like, ‘But then how… if he gets banged up in any way, then he won’t be able to fight.’ Then, I was like, ‘Sorry!’”

In Northcutt’s stead, former ONE bantamweight MMA world champion John Lineker stepped in and fell to Aoki via rear-naked choke in the first round.

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Ruotolo leaves ONE 165 with victory over Langaker

After a grueling matchup in their first meeting, Ruotolo and Langaker sought to find a clear winner in their rematch at ONE 165 this past Sunday in Tokyo.

Despite Langaker’s best attempts, Ruotolo was simply the better man once again and left the Ariake Arena still with the ONE lightweight submission grappling world championship around his waist.