Kade Ruotolo is the man of the moment after clearing out his division to win the $1 million prize at the CJI last August. Many then asked what was next for someone who conquered everything in BJJ at the age of only 21. For those wondering about the possible Kade Ruotolo MMA goals and the brothers’ competitive grappling aspirations, Kade has some interesting answers:
Is Kade Ruotlo Done with Jiu-Jitsu?
The Ruotolo brothers have been dominating the lightweight divisions in grappling for the past few years, racking up every possible title, from IBJJF worlds to the ADCC among them. There is not much left to conquer in BJJ, which could be the next challenge for the 21-year-old phenoms.
Kade Ruotolo recently spoke about the matter with Ariel Helwani, discussing his MMA goals after a successful debut in ONE. Given the demand for a full-time MMA career, are the brothers going to be able to keep up high-level BJJ competitions along with a successful MMA run?
Speaking about a potential MMA debut, Kade wants nothing short of a straight title shot, though: “I don’t think there will be a time when I completely ever leave Jiu-Jitsu. But when we’re getting to a time where we’re getting closer to fighting for the title, probably just put Jiu-Jitsu on the back burner a little bit as far as competitions.”
Kade is set to face Ahmed Mujtaba at ONE 169 in Bangkok, Thailand on November 8. After winning his debut MMA fight via submission, the reigning lightweight ONE submission grappling champion seems to be carving a path to an MMA title next.
However, it would take a substantial offer, along the lines of a title fight to fully pry him away from BJJ. After all, competing as a pro in BJJ did just land him a $1 million not so long ago.
The Rutolo Brothers’ Olympic Wrestling Aspirations
It seems that a Kade Ruotlo MMA career is not the only thing the brothers are considering. Speaking to Helwani, Kade also entertained the opportunity to have a run at Olympic gold as well.
Since BJJ is not going to make it to the Olympics anytime soon, and the same can be said for MMA, the Ruotlo brothers seem to be considering leveling up their wrestling to open up a shot at an Olympic performance.
“My brother and I, we like to talk about it because we’ve dabbled in wrestling, you know, a little high school wrestling class growing up,” said Kade to Helwani. “We feel like we have very strong wrestling, you know, we could wrestle with very high-level wrestlers. And we’ve never focused on it“.
Still wary that Olympic-level grappling is no joke, Kade added: “Obviously, I don’t think I can wrestle at that level anytime soon,” he acknowledged. “But with a lot of time given to it and dedicated to it, I think anything in the martial arts world, we could really accomplish almost anything that we put our minds to.”
“We Have Nothing But Time“
At the end of the day, the Ruotolo brothers are still very young and have already built a legendary BJJ legacy. The door is still open for them to entertain a future in any combat sport they choose:
“We’re still so young. We have nothing but time,” Kade proclaimed when discussing his MMA career and potential Olympic wrestling involvement. “If we decided to put everything into wrestling, we know that we could make real progress.”
Will wrestling end up being the Ruolo brothers’ next Mount Everest to conquer, or will the Kade Ruotolo MMA career get precedent? Let’s not forget that we’re still open to Franeksteing matches featuring any (or both) Ruotolos and Gordon Ryan, as well as seeing more of them in the Gi!
Darces From Everywhere Kade and Tye Ruotolo DVD Review [2024]
Darces From Everywhere Kade and Tye Ruotolo DVD Review [2024]
