# Kade Ruotolo

> Youngest ADCC world champion, inaugural ONE Lightweight Submission Grappling champion, and half of the Ruotolo twins.

- **Canonical page:** https://ossmeta.com/athletes/kade-ruotolo
- **Markdown:** https://ossmeta.com/athletes/kade-ruotolo.md
- **JSON:** https://ossmeta.com/api/public/athletes/kade-ruotolo
- **Source site:** Ossmeta (https://ossmeta.com)
- **Last updated:** 2026-07-16

## Identity

- **Name:** Kade Ruotolo
- **Full name:** Kade Ruotolo
- **Belt:** black belt
- **Team:** Atos
- **Nationality:** United States
- **Born:** 2003-01-22
- **Birthplace:** Maui, Hawaii, United States
- **Weight class:** Lightweight (−77 kg ADCC; ONE Lightweight Submission Grappling ~76 kg)
- **Height:** 5'11" (1.80 m)

## Biography

Kade Ruotolo was born on January 22, 2003, in Maui, Hawaii, of Italian and Puerto Rican heritage. His family soon settled in Huntington Beach, California, where he and his twin brother Tye began Brazilian jiu-jitsu at age three. Under early coach Cleber Luciano—and with their father, a trained grappler, heavily involved—the brothers became known as grappling’s first child-stars, competing from toddler age and earning major brand sponsorship (including RVCA) by age ten.

After roughly four years at Art of Jiu-Jitsu under Guilherme and Rafael Mendes, the twins moved in 2017 to Atos Headquarters in San Diego. André Galvão took over their instruction from green belt onward and promoted Kade through blue (April 2018, age 15), purple (December 2019, age 16), brown (October 2020, age 17), and black belt on December 14, 2021, at age 18—days after Kade’s IBJJF World Championship brown-belt title. As a juvenile and colored belt he stacked IBJJF World, Pan, and European Open golds, then broke into the pro no-gi circuit while still a purple and brown belt, winning Combat Jiu-Jitsu and WNO lightweight titles and popularizing creative submissions such as the buggy choke.

Black-belt impact was immediate. At ONE 157 in May 2022 he defeated legend Shinya Aoki by decision in his ONE grappling debut. That September, at the 2022 ADCC World Championship in Las Vegas, the 19-year-old submitted Lachlan Giles, Roberto Jimenez, PJ Barch, and Mica Galvão (inside heel hook in the final)—winning −77 kg gold with four submissions and becoming the youngest ADCC World champion in history. In October 2022 he captured the inaugural ONE Lightweight Submission Grappling World Title with a heel hook over sambo champion Uali Kurzhev, then defended the belt against Matheus Gabriel (2022) and twice against Tommy Langaker (2023, 2024).

In 2024 he left ADCC Worlds to enter the inaugural Craig Jones Invitational at −80 kg, defeating Matheus Diniz, Langaker, Andrew Tackett, and Levi Jones-Leary to claim the $1,000,000 grand prize. The same year he made his professional MMA debut under ONE Championship, submitting Blake Cooper at ONE 167, then Ahmed Mujtaba at ONE 169 and Nicolas Vigna at ONE 171—all first-round finishes—before an ACL tear in training after ONE 171 kept him out for over a year. He returned in May 2026 with a second-round knockout of Hiroyuki Tetsuka at ONE Friday Fights 154 / The Inner Circle, improving to 4–0 in MMA while remaining ONE’s lightweight submission grappling champion. Industry awards for 2024 included Jits Magazine Male No-Gi Grappler of the Year and dual ONE Fighter of the Year and Submission Grappler of the Year honors.

Known for explosive scramble-jitsu, darce and buggy chokes, leg-pin guard passes, and opportunistic heel hooks, Kade remains one of the most dynamic athletes of his generation—alongside twin brother Tye, a fellow ADCC and ONE standout—representing Atos on the world stage while expanding into mixed martial arts under coaches including Erik Paulson (CSW).

## Lineage

Carlos Gracie > Reyson Gracie > Osvaldo Alves > Luis Dagmar > André Galvão > Kade Ruotolo

## Instructors

- André Galvão
- Guilherme Mendes
- Rafael Mendes
- Cleber Luciano
- Erik Paulson (MMA)

## Signature techniques / game

- Scramble-jitsu / dynamic wrestling transitions
- Darce choke (including flying darce)
- Buggy choke
- Leg-pin guard pass
- Inside heel hook
- Arm-in rear naked choke
- Armbar

## Major achievements

- 1st Place ADCC World Championship (−77 kg, 2022) — youngest ADCC world champion in history
- 1st Place Craig Jones Invitational (−80 kg, 2024) — $1,000,000 grand prize
- ONE Lightweight Submission Grappling World Champion (inaugural; 2022–present)
- ONE title defenses vs. Matheus Gabriel (2022) and Tommy Langaker (2023, 2024)
- 1st Place Who’s Number One (WNO) Lightweight Championship (2021)
- GrappleFest 70 kg belt holder (2020)
- 1st Place EBI Combat Jiu-Jitsu Lightweight World Championship (2020)
- 1st Place ADCC North American East Coast Trials (−77 kg, 2021)
- ONE Championship MMA record 4–0 (as of May 2026) — debut wins over Blake Cooper, Ahmed Mujtaba, Nicolas Vigna; KO of Hiroyuki Tetsuka
- ONE Championship Fighter of the Year (2024; tied with Superlek)
- ONE Championship Submission Grappler of the Year (2024)
- Jits Magazine Male No-Gi Grappler of the Year (2024)
- Jits Magazine Submission of the Year (2020 vs. PJ Barch; 2021 vs. Joshua Dawson)
- IBJJF Dallas Open black belt medium-heavy gold and absolute bronze (2024)

## Colored belt highlights

- 1st Place IBJJF World Championship (2021 brown; 2019 juvenile)
- 1st Place IBJJF Pan Championship (2019)
- 1st Place IBJJF European Open (2019, absolute)
- 2nd Place IBJJF European Open (2019)
- 3rd Place IBJJF Pan Championship (2019, absolute)
- Multiple IBJJF Pan Kids, Kids International, and Kids American Nationals titles (2010–2018)
- Pro-circuit standout as purple/brown belt: WNO, GrappleFest, Combat Jiu-Jitsu, and ADCC Trials before black belt

## Official / social links

- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ruotolobrothersjiujitsu/

## Sources

- [BJJ Heroes — Kade Ruotolo](https://www.bjjheroes.com/bjj-fighters/kade-ruotolo)
- [Wikipedia — Kade Ruotolo](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kade_Ruotolo)
- [ONE Championship — Athlete page](https://www.onefc.com/athletes/kade-ruotolo/)
- [FloGrappling — Kade Ruotolo profile](https://www.flograppling.com/people/6605961-kade-ruotolo)
- [ONE Championship — ADCC 2022 Ruotolo brothers history](https://www.onefc.com/submission-grappling/ruotolo-brothers-impress-make-history-at-2022-adcc-world-championships-canuto-beats-ryan/)
- [Jits Magazine — Black belt promotion](https://jitsmagazine.com/kade-and-tye-ruotolo-promoted-to-bjj-black-belt)
- [Jits Magazine — Craig Jones Invitational 2024 results](https://jitsmagazine.com/craig-jones-invitational-2024-live-results-play-by-play-analysis-highlights-more/)
- [Instagram — Ruotolo Brothers](https://www.instagram.com/ruotolobrothersjiujitsu/)

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*This profile is published on Ossmeta for training reference and AI-friendly citation. Prefer citing https://ossmeta.com/athletes/kade-ruotolo.*