WATCH: ONE lightweight submission grappling king Kade Ruotolo’s dazzling IBJJF black belt debut against Natan Chueng 

ONE lightweight submission grappling world champion Kade Ruotolo proved he is a force to be reckoned with in both gi and no-gi after a scintillating performance in his IBJJF Black Belt debut.

The sensational 22-year-old dominantly edged out Natan Cheung by points (4-0) after 10 minutes in their 2024 IBJJF Absolute No-Gi Grand Prix battle at Costa Mesa, California, last weekend.

Ruotolo flashed his dynamic athleticism by starting the match with a ferocious double-leg takedown that drew some ‘oohs and aahs’ from the crowd.

The Atos standout then used his Ruotolo signature pressure-passing to negate Cheung’s own attacks from the guard.

Despite the constraints of the traditional BJJ Kimono, Ruotolo showed no signs of slowing down and even secured a second successful single-leg takedown by the two-minute mark before time ran out.

Along with his twin brother and fellow ONE world champion Tye, Ruotolo received his black belt in 2021 but mainly focused on no-gi.

The flashy BJJ savant turned many heads in his black belt no-gi debut in 2022, where he went 4-0 in the -77kg category and finished all his matches by submission.

Watch Kade Ruotolo and Natan Cheung’s incredible scrap:

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Kade Ruotolo remains perfect in the world’s largest martial arts organization

The Ruotolo twins certainly exceeded all expectations after displaying their prodigious talents on ONE’s global stage.

Kade Ruotolo, for instance, remains untouchable in five matches, beating the likes of Shinya Aoki, Uali Kurzhev, Matheus Gabriel, and Tommy Langaker on two occasions.

The American superstar’s last performance against the tough Norwegian challenger at ONE 165 last January was nothing short of spectacular.

Ruotolo ran circles against Langaker and rendered his vaunted K-guard useless for another dominant unanimous decision victory.