At 21, Kade Ruotolo, an accomplished grappler and ADCC champion, is set to make his MMA debut at ONE 167, aiming to transition successfully into MMA while continuing to compete in grappling, driven by his passion for learning and ambition to be one of the greatest combat athletes.
At just 21, Kade Ruotolo has already achieved more in competitive grappling than most do in a lifetime. His ADCC championship in 2022 stands out.
While he’ll never forget his roots, Ruotolo now prepares for his MMA debut at ONE 167 on Friday. This was always the plan for him.
Despite his long list of accolades in grappling, Ruotolo knew he’d eventually become a fighter. His twin brother Tye is expected to follow suit.
“I always knew from a young age I would be putting on the gloves,” Ruotolo told MMA Fighting. “It was always a bucket list type thing for me.”
“I’ve always enjoyed watching it, loved watching it as kids. We’d go over to our grandpa’s house and he’d always have the UFC fights on or whatever.”
“We were always super into it, always watching and obviously doing jiu-jitsu at that time. We always knew one day that once we accomplished almost everything we wanted to in jiu-jitsu that we would make that transition over.”
Because Brazilian jiu-jitsu and competitive grappling have taken up so much of his time, Ruotolo admits he didn’t focus much on MMA training until recently. He did train some Muay Thai as a kid but largely stayed focused on grappling.
With plans to eventually do MMA, Ruotolo started taking baby steps by incorporating more striking and wrestling into his training. What he didn’t expect was enjoying MMA as much as jiu-jitsu.
“I’m definitely in love with it,” Ruotolo said. “I think what’s so easy to love about it for me is that I’m learning something new every single day.”
“It’s not that I don’t in jiu-jitsu, but just the amount that I’m learning every, single day, it’s refreshing. It feels like I’m a kid again. I’m back at white belt again, climbing the ranks. I’m in love with it. I’m almost to say more than jiu-jitsu to be honest with you. I love striking.”
Ruotolo surrounded himself with the best trainers he could find, including legendary MMA coach Erik Paulson. Paulson helped him adapt his world-class grappling for use in the cage.
Even with all his experience in the biggest Brazilian jiu-jitsu competitions, Ruotolo admits he quickly figured out Paulson was a fountain of information.
“I was born in 2003 so I was like Erik Paulson?” Ruotolo said. “I’m sitting there scratching my head and I go in there and he shows me three leg locks I never knew.”
“I started using them all day in class, throughout the whole next week. It just blew my mind. Right when you think you know all the leg locks! He showed me three I didn’t even have a clue about.”
“That’s when I knew this was the man on the grappling, jiu-jitsu and wrestling, that was him.”
As much as he’s enjoyed his training, Ruotolo admits nothing came easy. That’s why he believes many high-level grapplers talk about doing MMA but never follow through.
“There’s definitely a reason why you see a lot of guys claim they’re going to do MMA and they never quite make it there,” Ruotolo said. “It’s a whole different ball game. A whole different sport.”
“You really do have to devote your everything into it as far as training, the recovery, everything. It’s so much more drastic than a jiu-jitsu match or a jiu-jitsu camp even.”
Ruotolo hopes to show off all his different tools in his MMA debut. He also knows he has a weapon that’s far from secret.
“I think a lot of people will be surprised at my willingness and my gameness to fight and not just look for a takedown and grapple,” Ruotolo said. “But in the most humble way possible, it’s been a very long time since the MMA world has seen a level of grappling such as my brother and I.”
“Jiu-jitsu has been evolving so much and changing so much in recent years, wrestling is so important, leg locks, all this is important.”
“I’m not sure if the MMA world is ready for it. I’m excited to show what I can do.”
While his primary focus remains on his upcoming fight in June, Ruotolo still plans on returning to grappling with the upcoming ADCC tournament in July. He also has an individual grappling match booked against Mikey Musumeci when ONE Championship returns to the United States in September.
After that, Ruotolo wants to book his second MMA fight.
That probably seems like an ambitious list of goals for somebody who is just now debuting, but Ruotolo doesn’t want to waste any time. Especially during the prime years of his athletic career.
“I’m 21, I want to take advantage of this youth,” Ruotolo said. “I definitely don’t want to be fighting deep into my 30s. Definitely not even deep into my 20s honestly. My whole idea is I’m getting my work done now. The sooner the better honestly.
“I’m not here to just become another jiu-jitsu guy or an MMA guy. I want to be considered one of the greatest combat athletes of all time.”