We recently got the chance to interview Kade Ruotolo and although most of our time was spent looking at his MMA career, he was also happy to talk about his achievements in BJJ too. His focus is split between the two at ONE Championship right now but for the longest time, he spent every waking moment trying to become the greatest grappler that he could possible be. That’s what led to him and his brother Tye Ruotolo becoming the biggest prodigies in the sport for some time and now, as they approach their early 20s, they’ve become two of the biggest names in the sport.
Obviously his recent victory at the Craig Jones Invitational was fresh in his mind, so we wanted to know if it was the biggest moment of his career or whether there were any other achievements that might have felt even more important to him. His answer might surprise some people:
“Well the first one was the Who’s Number One where my brother I both secured the titles at 155 and 170. That was like our first really big wins and we did it together on the same night, so I don’t know if anything takes that cake. That was our first big chunk of money, like $30,000 or something, and that was probably one of our all-time favorite moments.”
Are there any other big landmark moments that stand out for you?
“Of course ADCC 2022 was a major one for me when I got that win. Winning the ONE Championship belt obviously was another accomplishment for me, and then CJI. Between those four it’s really hard to choose just one.”
Is there something about winning alongside your brother that makes the WNO victories so special?
“I’d honestly put either that Who’s Number One event or that night when we both hit the same submission at ONE Championship, I’d put both those moments over my ADCC win. Even though most people would think that might feel and mean more, and trust me it felt and meant a lot to me, there’s something about when you’re winning alongside your brother. It’s hard to explain but it’s double the smiles, double the happiness! There’s nothing better. I’m just waiting for the day we both knock someone out on the same card, that would be super cool.”
The only major title left for you now is the IBJJF World Championship, is that something you want to add to the collection?
“Oh, I have to for sure. I’ve got a lot of pressure on myself to do it. It’s been a dream of mine since I was a kid and my brother has a title. This next year I was hoping to get it done sooner rather than later, but at the same time MMA has been really been taking over my life a lot. If I can find a way to balance my training and it’s not too much stress, I’ll try to get them both done at the same time.”
Obviously the million-dollar prize money at CJI was huge regardless of the title itself. If you don’t mind me asking, are you spending the money on?
“The guarantee is just gonna be to make some smarter investments as far as real estate and property in Costa Rica. We’ve got our gym, our house, it’s our paradise out there. We kinda just wanna start expanding further into the land around the area.”
That’s going to go a long way towards that, but what about anything for yourself personally?
“As far as what I’ve bought personally for me, I’ve only gotten one thing since then. Actually it was technically before, but it was a ‘91 4Runner. It has like 80,000 miles on it, manual transmission, stick-shift, four-wheel drive. It only cost me ten grand! I’m not gonna go buy a Lambo or whatever, I just keep it mellow.”
Tell us a little more about Costa Rica too, is it where you’re going to train full-time?
“We’re gonna start off by just doing Jiu-Jitsu surf camps. A week at a time, everyone can come hang out and enjoy the gym. It’s paradise in Costa Rica; just train, surf, drink smoothies, just live the life! Eventually down the line when we’re living down there I’m sure we’ll be doing everyday classes.”
That sounds amazing! As far as future matches go, that recent match with Mikey Musumeci was cancelled so is that something you’d like to rebook?
“Guaranteed. 110%. It wasn’t just all you guys, I myself was bummed that it wasn’t going through too. Chatri (Sityodtong) kept saying it was one of the most important fights for Jiu-Jitsu, that’s the way he felt. So I was super bummed to not be in the right physical state. My body is still pretty banged up, but I told myself that I’d get through this last fight and then chill the rest of this year. Really recover with my brother. 110% I wanna get that match booked ASAP, but I think Mikey is still going through some health things on his end so hopefully next year it’ll get rebooked again.”
Is there anyone else you want to face in grappling too?
“I was also looking for that Levi Jones-Leary rematch, just hopefully getting both those guard-players back-to-back would be pretty cool.”
You beat Levi last time at CJI, so why do you want that match again?
“There’s not really anyone in particular that I’ve been looking to face. I thought the Levi match is one I want to get back because there’s a lot of back and forth about it and different opinions. I went into that match after the (Andrew) Tackett match, actually after the Tommy (Langaker) match too. I don’t know if you remember but I squeezed the rear-naked choke on Tommy like so hard, I thought I had it and I thought he was gonna tap but he didn’t. I just blew my load, and then I had the Tackett match and squeezed like three more chokes so by the time I got to the final I basically didn’t have any arms, you know? I would definitely love that matchup under like a superfight ruleset where it’s one and done, and I think the outcome would look a lot different.”
Is it just Mikey and Levi on your radar for now then?
“Really there’s no one else besides that one match and it’s nothing personal obviously, it’s more just to clear up whatever wasn’t cleared up.”
Kade Ruotolo might not be competing in BJJ for the next few months, as he focuses on his MMA career and takes time off to recover from injuries. It’s clear that he has some specific goals in mind for when he does return to the mats though, and it’ll be interesting to see what he tackles next in 2025.
