At ONE Fight Night 11, Kade Ruotolo proved that he has the fighting spirit of a world champion.
Defending his ONE lightweight submission grappling world championship for the second time, the defending king had to dig deep to keep hold of his title last Friday, June 9.
Thanks to his relentless pace and aggression, Kade was awarded the unanimous decision victory over Tommy Langaker following a closely contested battle.
Just like many fans and experts predicted, the challenger from Norway proved to be the champion’s toughest test to date on the ONE stage, as he threatened with his blend of high-level technique and physical strength.
On top of the physical challenge, Kade Ruotolo revealed after the match-up that he had some recurring issues throughout his preparation for the contest that hindered his camp.
In his post-fight interview, Kade revealed that whilst his injuries weren’t holding him back due to the pain, they impacted his performance by not letting him train the way he would have liked to:
“I don’t even think it was so much the pain of the injury, it is more so just the lack of preparation leading into the incident, into the match.”
Watch the full post-fight interview below:
By overcoming the adversity that he faced inside and outside of the ring, Kade proved that he isn’t only a BJJ prodigy because of his technique alone.
To become the champ you have to beat the champ and the sport’s flagbearer isn’t as easy to crack as some may have first thought.
North American viewers can rewatch the entire ONE Fight Night 11 card via replay on Amazon Prime Video.
