‘It’s Unheard Of’ – Mikey Musumeci Reacts To Kade Ruotolo’s Historic ADCC Win
In September at ONE on Prime Video 2, top pound-for-pound BJJ stylist Mikey Musumeci entered the history books by becoming the first-ever ONE Submission Grappling World Champion.
Now at ONE on Prime Video 3, fellow American star Kade Ruotolo will look to become ONE’s second submission grappling king when he takes on Sambo World Champion Uali Kurzhev for the lightweight strap.
That World Title showdown will come just weeks after the 19-year-old Ruotolo became the youngest-ever competitor to claim gold at the ultra-prestigious Abu Dhabi Combat Club (ADCC) World Championships.
For his part, Musumeci was watching closely – and he was blown away by the BJJ phenom’s massive accomplishment.
“Darth Rigantoni” told ONE:
“ADCC for submission wrestling is the biggest tournament in no-gi, you know, so that’s the World Championship for no-gi. And Kade, he went in there, broke the record as the youngest ADCC World Champion, 19 years old, and he submitted every match.
“It’s unheard of. It’s really unheard of what he did.”
Indeed, no other ADCC Champion this year was able to match Ruotolo’s 100 percent submission rate, making the triumph even more stunning.
But while it was undeniably a monumental feat, Musumeci still views ONE Championship – and the opportunity to claim a ONE World Title on Prime Video – as the new pinnacle of submission grappling.
He explained:
“Now, this is a different league of competing. In ONE Championship, this is professional, this is a different realm of competing, and this is for a title. This is in front of so many people, millions of people watching this.
“So this is, in my opinion, the biggest possible title in jiu-jitsu, and it will be forever the biggest title in jiu-jitsu with what we’re doing right now. So it’s so special that Kade and I both have the opportunity to be the first champions of ONE in our divisions.”
No Matchup Against Kade Ruotolo (For Now)
Moments after Mikey Musumeci captured the ONE Flyweight Submission Grappling World Championship in September, he called for a contest against MMA GOAT Demetrious Johnson – which he labeled a “respectful request to roll.”
Naturally, some fans are also wondering if “Darth Rigatoni” would be interested in taking on Kade Ruotolo.
But according to the flyweight submission grappling king, that’s not something he’s currently considering.
Musumeci explained:
“No, because he’s in a weight class like 35 pounds heavier than me. So I’m really just focused on my division right now. Maybe in the future, like one day I’ll want to go up weight classes. I don’t know. But right now I just want to focus on my own division.”
