One of the world’s best grapplers will continue his MMA transition next month under the ONE Championship banner.
Kade Ruotolo (1-0) will take on Ahmed Mujtaba (10-4) at lightweight at ONE 169, promotion officials told MMA Junkie. The event (Prime Video) takes place Nov. 8 at Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.
Ruotolo, a 21-year-old from Hawaii, is a ONE submission grappling champion and won the Craig Jones Invitational grappling tournament in August – and its $1 million prize. The renowned jiu-jitsu black belt and his twin brother, Tye, both signed deals with ONE to grapple and eventually transition to mixed martial arts.
Kade Ruotolo made that move in June at ONE 167 and submitted Blake Cooper with a first-round rear-naked choke. The finish was good enough for a $50,000 performance bonus in Bangkok.
Mujtaba, a 31-year-old from Pakistan, has fought for ONE since 2016 and is 4-4 with the promotion. Three of those four wins are stoppages. But potentially working against him is that three of his four losses are by submission.
In the main event at ONE 169, three-division champion Anatoly Malykhin will defend his heavyweight title against “Reug Reug” Oumar Kane. Two-division champ Christian Lee will defend his lightweight title against unbeaten Russian challenger Alibeg Rasulov.
