SUMMARY
- Kade Ruotolo will make his MMA debut at ONE 167.
- Ahead of the bout against Blake Cooper, Ruotolo opens up about his new adventure.
ONE Lightweight Submission Grappling World Champion Kade Ruotolo has been waiting for his chance to fight under MMA rules, and at ONE 167 on Prime Video his moment will arrive.
The 21-year-old phenom faces Hawaiian standout Blake Cooper in a lightweight MMA contest on June 7 at the Impact Arena in Bangkok, Thailand. Ahead of his first fight, Ruotolo opened up on the rush he gets from the dangers of MMA.
“Oh man, it’s a whole different world, that’s for sure. I’ve been falling in love with it more and more every single day, though. It’s something new. It’s exhilarating,” he said.
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“Not that jiu-jitsu isn’t. I love jiu-jitsu, my adrenaline is always pumping, but it’s a different type of exhilarating. It’s hard to almost explain it, I’m just extremely excited and excited to show the world what I can do.”
Ruotolo has dominated the submission grappling ranks since his ONE Championship debut in 2022. The American is 6-0 on the global stage, and he has held the lightweight submission grappling strap since its inception that same year.
Kade Ruotolo has been preparing for this moment since childhood
Ahead of his MMA debut against Blake Cooper at ONE 167 on Prime Video, Kade Ruotolo believes that a lifetime of squaring off with his twin brother, ONE Welterweight Submission Grappling World Champion Tye Ruotolo, has steeled him for this moment.
The siblings have trained together day-in, day-out since the age of 3, and Kade doesn’t think that Cooper will bring anything to the Circle that tops the battles he’s had with his brother.
“I love fighting. In the most honest way possible, I don’t know why, but I love it. There’s something about it,” he said.
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“I just know I will not have a fight tougher than what I’ve gone through with my brother. I don’t think it’s possible. I don’t know if it’s humanly possible. My brother and I have done what we’ve done our entire lives. I don’t think a lot of people are prepared to go those lengths.”
Cooper, however, is not coming into the contest as a trial horse for Ruotolo. The 27-year-old has three professional MMA fights to his name, and he hails from a family of high-level mixed martial artists.