Kade Ruotolo will now be making his black belt IBJJF debut against Natan Chueng in one of several superfights booked for the IBJJF No Gi Absolute Grand Prix 2024 on February 29th, 2024. The match was only announced just a few days before the event is due to take place, significantly later than the rest of the superfights booked for the event. There will be a handful of blue and purple belts competing on the card along with four other matches between elite black belt competitors, and of course the main attraction for the evening as well.
While the IBJJF No Gi Absolute Grand Prix 2024 is stacked with fantastic grapplers who will all be battling it out for $40,000 of prize money, there will also be plenty of attention on the superfights too. They will be taking place either before or in between rounds of the tournament and this match in particular will be one to look forward to. This will mark the first time that Kade Ruotolo has competed under IBJJF rules since he was promoted to black belt back in 2021, while Natan Chueng is a very tough opponent who will definitely do everything in his power to cause an upset.
Ruotolo has been a top competitor since very early in his grappling career and is best known for becoming the youngest ADCC world champion ever back at ADCC 2022. Although Ruotolo’s biggest achievements to date have come in no gi competition, he’ll be facing Chueng in the gi instead. That’s where Chueng has the most experience, as he’s managed to stand on the podium of several major IBJJF events and Abu Dhabi Grand Slam tournaments.
The IBJJF announced the news that Kade Ruotolo was going to make his black belt IBJJF debut against Natan Chueng at the IBJJF No Gi Absolute Grand Prix 2024 in a recent post to their official Instagram account:
