As one of the highly anticipated debuts on the ONE 167 fight card, the promotional lightweight submission grappling world champion Kade Ruotolo made his MMA debut against fellow Hawaii native Blake Cooper. Ruotolo is a former multi-time Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champion and has held the ONE submission grappling title since 2022.
At just 21 years old, Ruotolo is already considered one of the best and most influential submission grapplers in the world along with his twin brother, Tye Ruotolo.
Kade Ruotolo Submits Blake Cooper at ONE 167
From BJJ to MMA 🥋👊 Kade Ruotolo submits Blake Cooper in Round 1!
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🇯🇵… pic.twitter.com/sG68iN9HG4— ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) June 8, 2024
Kade Ruotolo‘s MMA career was scheduled to be a three-round, 15-minute fight, but he only needed a little over three minutes to begin his fighting career at 1-0. After a brief period of striking exchanges, Ruotolo managed to take Blake Cooper down against the fence before quickly finishing the fight with a rear-naked choke at ONE 167.
Though the fight did not last long, Ruotolo showed decent striking for a 21-year-old making his MMA debut, connecting with several body kicks and displaying an understanding of distance management. With the threat of his grappling at such a high level, Cooper appeared timid with his strikes to limit any chance of a takedown.
For as competent as his striking appeared in his inaugural performance, Ruotolo also showed a good clinch game, landing a couple of damaging knees. The grappling ace would use the clinch to advance to Cooper’s back against the fence and utilize a sit-down trip to get the fight on the ground. Once there, the fight was all but over just seconds later.
Kade Ruotolo Shouts Out Striking Coaches
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Given his accomplished Brazilian jiu-jitsu background, the ceiling of Kade Ruotolo’s MMA career will depend on the growth of his skills as a striker. In his post-fight interview, the Hawaii native admitted that he felt nervous in the initial exchange with Blake Cooper and took a while to find his rhythm.
Along with thanking fans and giving credit to his family, Ruotolo made a point to shout out his coaching staff, primarily his striking mentors. To prepare for his MMA debut, he worked extensively with Classic Fight Team striking coach Tyler Wombles.
As one of the most prominent MMA coaches on social media, Wombles has accrued over 100 thousand followers on Instagram. The former kickboxer is also an active stuntman with contributions to the films ‘Lights Out’ and ‘Mojave Diamonds.’
Matchup with Mikey Musumeci at ONE 168
Both Kade Ruotolo and Mikey Musumeci were two of the main selling points of the ONE 167 fight card and already have their next appearances booked. As two of the biggest names in the Brazilian jiu-jitsu world, Ruotolo and Musumeci will face each other in the ONE Championship cage for the former’s lightweight submission grappling world title.
Like Ruotolo, Musumeci picked up a big win at ONE 167, submitting Gabriel Sousa with a calf slicer. After his win, the 27-year-old went on an expletive rant on Sousa while the promotion brought Ruotolo into the cage for an informal face-off.
Musumeci expressed his respect for Ruotolo and declared the two — along with Tye Ruotolo — to be the best grapplers in the world who refrain from PED usage. With years of dominance in his relative weight class on his resume, ‘Darth Rigatoni’ will be giving up a significant amount of size against Ruotolo.
About the Author
Jaren Kawada is a freelance sports writer from Indianapolis, Indiana by way of Honolulu, Hawaii with a strong passion for MMA and sports betting. Kawada has also written for Sportskeeda MMA, FanSided MMA, and BetSided as a combat sports analyst. Follow on X/Twitter at @jarenkawada1 or on Instagram at @kawadajaren.
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