Kade Ruotolo Shares How Fighting With Brother Prepared Him for MMA

While Kade Ruotolo will make his mixed martial arts debut Friday, he is no stranger to fist fighting, having grown up with twin brother Tye Ruotolo.

Ruotolo is scheduled to make his MMA debut against Blake Cooper (2-1) at ONE 167 on June 7 in Bangkok. Having been in regular bare-knuckle fights with his brother since a young age, the elite jiu-jitsu practitioner claims to have picked up on the striking aspect of MMA with ease. While preparing for his upcoming fight, Ruotolo has already surprised a lot of people who were expecting him to come in as a pure jiu-jitsu practitioner and plans to surprise many more.

“It’s kind of a hard question to say that exactly. When we were growing up – it wasn’t at a very high level, it was at our jiu-jitsu gym for around two years when we were around the age of 13, give or take. We did about two years of Muay Thai, so we had an idea of how to throw a kick, how to throw a punch, things like that,” Ruotolo said. “It wasn’t like we were just full jiu-jitsu guys. We had an idea of how to strike. On top of that, me and my brother would fight bare knuckle every single day, pretty much.”

“We were tough, and we kind of had an idea how to throw punches, so a lot of our coaches were surprised to see the amount of fight, not knowledge, but I’d say form in the striking. I think they were expecting us to come in as full jiu-jitsu guys. We’ve surprised a lot of people so far, and I’m looking to surprise a lot of people on June 7.”

Apart from basic striking, Ruotolo has also benefitted mentally by training with his brother. Fierce competitors since the age of 3, the Ruotolo brothers are used to long, nasty jiu-jitsu sessions.

“I just know I will not have a fight tougher than what I’ve gone through with my brother. I don’t think it’s possible. I don’t know if it’s humanly possible. My brother and I have done what we’ve done our entire lives. There are times when we’re hand fighting, and I say hand fighting, where it’s basically just striking, just throat punch, hard as you can collar-tie, and it goes on for 30 minutes, sometimes an hour nonstop until one of us backs down. And for us, to back down is just not an option. Sometimes, people have to separate us, and we’re still there an hour straight. I didn’t stop. Building that mental strength, I don’t think a lot of people are prepared to go those lengths.”