Last Friday, at ONE 167: Tawanchai vs. Nattawut II on Prime Video, submission grappling superstars Mikey “Darth Rigatoni” Musumeci and Kade Ruotolo each picked up dominant victories at the sold-out Impact Arena in Bangkok, Thailand.

Notably, the pair are set to clash in September at ONE 168: Denver when Musumeci moves up three weight classes to challenge Ruotolo for his ONE Lightweight Submission Grappling World Title.

Kade Ruotolo is excited to face Mikey Musumeci

At ONE 167, following ‘Darth Rigatoni’s submission victory over Gabriel Sousa, the two shared the Circle and spoke about their upcoming World Title bout.

Ruotolo–who, just minutes prior, had scored a spectacular submission win in his professional MMA debut – said he’s looking forward to the match, which will be one of the biggest in the history of submission grappling.

According to the Californian, the showdown with Musumeci is significant not only because they are two of the sport’s top pound-for-pound competitors but also because they are each steroid-free athletes–a sad rarity in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

Ruotolo said: “I think it’s just an epic moment for jiu-jitsu. I think the super special thing about it is that two natural athletes competing at the highest level. At the highest levels, it’s been really difficult to see that and keeping it steroid-free at the highest level of technique colliding, it’s gonna be an amazing fight and I’m looking forward to it.”

Musumeci will not hold back against Ruotolo

For his part, Musumeci echoed his future foe’s sentiments, proud to be competing as a natural athlete against another natural athlete.

He added: “This isn’t about money for me. This isn’t about just winning. I can win in my division, obviously, you guys can see I can win in my division. That’s why I want to roll with the best guys. Kade and me are both the two best natural athletes in jiu-jitsu – and Tye, of course. 

“We’re gonna make the biggest fight in jiu-jitsu history – the two natural people that don’t take any steroids or cheat. And that’s why we’re doing this. We’re making history and I want to f***in’ roll with the best. He’s f***ing awesome. I always ask to train with him, so why not just do it in front of a lot of people, it will be really exciting, you know?”