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Reigning and undisputed ONE lightweight submission grappling world champion Kade Ruotolo of the United States knows he has to stick to his strengths in his upcoming professional mixed martial arts debut.
The 21-year-old American phenom says far too many pure grapplers who transition to MMA forget their roots and don't remember how to grapple effectively. Ruotolo vows not to traverse this path when he finally goes into MMA in June.
In a recent guest appearance on the Jaxxon Podcast, Ruotolo talked about how he plans on keeping his BJJ a very valuable strength in his first MMA fight.
The 21-year-old stated:
"Every time you see one of the best jiu-jitsu guys hop into MMA, and they look sharp at the beginning. I noticed that with how many fights that pass, they kind of [go away from it] where it just doesn't seem to be a strength anymore."
Ruotolo is set to make his pro MMA debut in a lightweight contest against fellow American Blake Cooper. The two lock horns at ONE 167: Stamp vs. Zamboanga on Prime Video, which broadcasts live from the Impact Arena in Bangkok, Thailand.
Fans in the United States and Canada can catch all the action of ONE 167: Stamp vs. Zamboanga live and absolutely free on U.S. primetime, Friday, June 7th on Amazon Prime Video.
Kade Ruotolo says insane work ethic keeps him sharp
Why is Kade Ruotolo so successful? The youngster believes it's just pure old-fashioned hard work that has allowed him to reach unprecedented levels of achievement in the grappling arts.
Ruotolo acknowledges that staying on top of the martial arts game, whether that's in grappling or in MMA, isn't easy. He said:
"They're working on their other tools and they start to forget about their jiu-jitsu as much. In jiu-jitsu, if you're not training a lot, it's easy to be rusty and to really not have those positions on lock."
Needless to say, Ruotolo is hard at work preparing for his MMA debut, which can't come soon enough.
