Kade Ruotolo, the reigning lightweight submission grappling world champion for ONE Championship, expressed interest in competing at the promotion’s first-ever live on-ground event in the United States, which took place in May.
He freely acknowledges that he experienced a sense of loss due to the fact that he was not included in the card. However, rather than focusing an excessive amount of mental energy on it, he diverted his emotions into better preparing himself for the approaching fight.
Kade Ruotolo discussed with the South China Morning Post how he felt during and after the historic U.S. performance that was played to a sold-out crowd in Colorado and before his return to action on Friday, June 9, at ONE Fight Night 11 on Prime Video in Bangkok. This interview took place just a few days before Ruotolo’s bout.
The American champion, who is only 20 years old, said:
“I couldn’t agree more, dude. I experienced a touch of fear of missing out. The fear of losing out at that very moment. Therefore, each and every time, as well as the most recent Worlds. Every time I go to a competition, whether it is to watch or to coach, I always have a good time. I’m just getting antsy, like, man. Either this or that would be what I was doing in my ideal state right now. Therefore, it serves to motivate me, and it helps me get ready for the day ahead.
Check out the interview that was just posted:
At ONE Fight Night 10 on May 5, Kade Ruotolo was at circle-side to corner Atos Jiu-Jitsu teammates Tye Ruotolo (his twin brother) and Osamah Almarwai.
At this point, the reigning lightweight submission grappling world champion of ONE will take the ring at the illustrious Lumpinee Boxing Stadium for the eleventh installment of ONE Fight Night.
The co-main event of the night, in which Kade Ruotolo will defend his world title against Norwegian challenger Tommy Langaker, will be made available for free to Prime Video customers in North America.
The current champion, who won the championship in October of last year, will be making his second defense of it in this upcoming match. In his first defense of the championship, which took place in December, he prevailed over the Brazilian Matheus Gabriel via unanimous decision.
Tommy Langaker, a veteran fighter who is 29 years old and has fought twice in ONE Championship but has never been defeated, has his sights set on dethroning Kade Ruotolo.
He is coming off of an amazing submission victory that he earned in February against a former championship contender from Russia named Uali Kurzhev. The victory was accomplished through the use of a brutal heel hook.
