Kade Ruotolo will now be competing against an incredible athlete in Sambo world champion Uali Khurzev at the upcoming ONE on Amazon Video 3 event, where the promotion’s inaugural Lightweight Submission Grappling world championship will be on the line. The event is set to take place on 21st October and Ruotolo v Khurzev will serve as the top-billed preliminary fight that is set to be streamed live on YouTube before the main card starts on Amazon Prime, one that will be headlined by John Lineker defending his MMA Bantamweight world title against Fabricio Andrade.
Kade Ruotolo is fresh off the best performance of his life at the 2022 ADCC World Championships where he won the 77kg division in stunning fashion and cemented himself as one of the top grapplers on the planet in his weightclass. His opponent Khurzev is no easy match however as he is actually a four-time Sambo world champion and a veteran Judoka as well, winning both the IJF Grand Slam and Grand Prix. Whoever wins this match between a Sambo and no gi grappling world champion will claim the second ONE Championship submission grappling title after Mikey Musumeci won the inaugural Flyweight title at ONE on Amazon Video 2.
Ironically, Ruotolo is actually doing something that Musumeci himself wanted to do for his first title-defence in challenging a Sambo world champion. This rivalry between Sambo and BJJ is something that has been going on for decades at this point and it even predates the ADCC world championships. All the way back in the 80s members of the Gracie family would compete in Sambo tournaments, and Rickson and his siblings would often emerge victorious.
The news that Kade Ruotolo will be competing against Sambo World Champion Uali Khurzev for the inaugural ONE Championship Lightweight Submission Grappling world title at ONE on Amazon Video 3 was announced in a post to the Ruotolo brothers’ official Instagram account:
