Inside the Adventurous Mind of Kade Ruotolo

Why sit around the house all summer when you can be as adventurous as Kade Ruotolo? The ONE Championship submission grappling lightweight titleholder looks primed for one of the most experimental seasons of his career, but he welcomes all challenges with a smile.

Up first, Ruotolo makes his long-awaited mixed martial arts debut in a 170-pound showdown against Blake Cooper at ONE 167 this Friday at Impact Arena in Bangkok, Thailand. Ruotolo has been a force on the mats since he was 3—he has claimed multiple world championships in jiu-jitsu—but he has always had his eye on a different rule set.

“MMA is something that I’ve always loved since I was a child,” he told Sherdog.com. “Growing up watching all the different MMA scraps, it was something I always knew I wanted to do, but we just had to get everything done in jiu-jitsu first. After knocking off some of my biggest goals—ADCC, world’s, etcetera—I knew there was no better time to put on the gloves.”

Like Ruotolo, Cooper (2-1, 0-1 ONE) hails from Hawaii, coming from a family with a strong fighting background. His older brother, Ray Cooper III, is a former welterweight champion in the Professional Fighters League. Cooper’s wrestling skills are formidable, but his powerful punches catch the lion’s share of Ruotolo’s attention. After a year of intense striking training, Ruotolo is eager for the chance to prove he is more than just a grappler.

“I love fighting,” he said. “That’s one thing a lot of people aren’t fully understanding about my brother [Tye] and me. We grew up bareknuckle fighting pretty much every single day. Jiu-jitsu will always be in my heart, but there are times when I’m on top, and I’m just like, ‘Dude, I have so much more fight to give than what the rules set of jiu-jitsu allows.’”

Ruotolo believes he will finish Cooper. While most do not see a scenario where Cooper can compete with the decorated jiu-jitsu player on the ground, Cooper thinks he can take advantage of his counterpart’s pride on the feet.

However, Cooper is just one opponent on Ruotolo’s busy schedule. Following ONE 167, Ruotolo will immediately turn his attention to the Abu Dhabi Combat Club Submission Fighting World Championships in Las Vegas in August. There, he faces a field of 16 of the best 77-kilogram grapplers on the planet. Ruotolo became the youngest competitor ever to win the prestigious ADCC event when he did so at 19, not a year after receiving his black belt in jiu-jitsu. He credits his creativity for allowing him to stay ahead of the pack.

“The only way is to keep an open mind,” Ruotolo said. “You’re never going to learn anything new if you already think you know everything; the person who taught me and my brother the buggy choke was a string-bean blue belt who was on ’shrooms, but that’s what it’s all about. If you keep an open mind, you can learn from anyone.”

Ruotolo’s open mind prompted him to accept a submission grappling match just three weeks following ADCC with ONE Championship submission grappling flyweight titleholder Mikey Musumeci at ONE 168 in September. Musumeci is one of the world’s most prominent submission grappling stars but will be moving up 30 pounds to face Ruotolo for his lightweight belt. While Ruotolo recognizes the magnitude of his star-studded showdown with Musumeci, he does not see a way the flyweight champ can dethrone him. The two grapplers are two of ONE’s biggest names on the Denver card, but Ruoloto vows to remind fans why weight classes were instituted in the first place.

“Mikey’s a legend, and props to him for taking this match,” Ruotolo said. “His game is very intriguing. He’s pretty much always working off his back and playing from guard, which negates a lot of the strength advantage, but to be honest, my brother and I have been doing a lot of leg lock defense for the last handful of years, and in the most respectful way possible, I don’t see a way cutting out for Mikey to get the W.”

With two fight cards and a world championship tournament for which to train, Ruotolo’s summer figures to be frantic. He would not have it any other way.

“I’ve got a lot of dreams and a lot of goals out there right now,” he said. “Getting a belt in MMA and eventually becoming a double champion would be really cool. Who knows, maybe even some wrestling tournaments down the line where we could do some damage, but right now, it’s all about taking it day by day.”