Kade Ruotolo has put on some incredible performances so far in his ONE Championship tenure, and he’s feeling confident ahead of his upcoming battle.

At ONE 168: Denver on Friday, September 6, the ONE Lightweight Submission Grappling World Champion will defend his crown against flyweight counterpart Mikey “Darth Rigatoni” Musumeci inside the Ball Arena in Denver, Colorado.

Kade Ruotolo’s MMA debut highlights his grappling mastery

Ruotolo is fresh off a victory in his first MMA bout at ONE 167 this past June. That evening, he scored a first-round submission win over Blake Cooper, and the experience of finally getting his feet wet in the all-encompassing sport has done wonders for his confidence. Speaking to ONE in an interview, he said:

“I feel a bit invincible as far as, like, a toughness scale. When you start taking punches and knees and elbows, it’s just like jiu-jitsu becomes so easy – or easier. Those accidental kicks or that collar tie that slaps you in the face or whatever, it’s nothing compared to MMA. I think it’s tougher.”

The Atos representative had been yearning to let his hands go in an MMA match for some time. But when he finally got his shot, it was his grappling skills that helped him shine. However, Ruotolo had prepared for all eventualities ahead of the lightweight affair, choosing to roll and train with MMA fighters. This allowed him to figure out how they moved – and what to exploit.

“In MMA, you don’t want to be rolling as much, taking as much risk, because you really don’t want to be on bottom. It really sucks to get turned over and all the work you put in to get on top in the match just goes away. So I think that’s a little bit more of a presence than in jiu-jitsu,” he said.

Ruotolo’s evolving game plan for MMA and upcoming fights

Together with his twin brother, Tye, Kade is known for his aggressive attacking style with a relentless pursuit of submissions. However, he is not closing his doors on attacking from his back – a situation where he could see himself against a leg-locking specialist like Musumeci.

He further added, “In jiu-jitsu, you go for D’Arces and whatever all day and keep the scramble going. That was the only way my game kinda changed for MMA, which is making sure I don’t take any sloppy submissions or any stupid decisions to end up on bottom.”

Carrying his reinforced confidence, the Californian believes he will be able to assert his game at ONE 168. “We love taking our opponents down, pass and finishing, things like that. So, obviously, we still have all those pillars instilled into us, but, you know, we’re never gonna forget about our leg locks. The leg locks are there. Or, if I am on my back, I probably am gonna do a little bit more than just the average half guard and figure out some way to get on the leg or get up,” he said.