“He Won’t Give Up Until the End” – Buchecha Lauded Both Kade Ruotolo and Tommy Langaker Advising Them to Refrain From Mistakes in Their ONE Fight Night 11 Bout

ONE heavyweight MMA contender Marcus “Buchecha” Almeida knows a thing or two about grappling, and he believes the upcoming matchup between Kade Ruotolo and Tommy Langaker will be fun to watch. On Friday, June 9th, Ruotolo will put his ONE Lightweight Submission Grappling World Championship on the line against the Norwegian grappling star in the co-main event of ONE Fight Night 11: Eersel vs. Menshikov inside the iconic Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand. 

Buchecha, a 17-time Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu World Champion, is keen to see how the action goes down between two of the best in the sport, and he broke down what to expect from this explosive pairing in a recent interview with ONE Championship.

Marcus Almeida judged Kade Ruotolo as the better grappler despite lauding Tommy Langaker

“It’s going to be a good one, but I think Kade is still the better man. Of course, Tommy is really good, really dangerous. He won’t give up until the end. But I think Kade, it’s his moment right now. The best moment of his career so far,” he said.

Ruotolo has been on an impressive roll for the last year. The 20-year-old became the youngest ADCC World Champion after dominating his division in the tournament. He then claimed the inaugural ONE Lightweight Submission Grappling World Title on his way to being named the 2022 ONE Submission Grappling Athlete of the Year. 

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The Atos standout kicked 2023 off by defending his strap against BJJ World Champion Matheus Gabriel, putting him on an immaculate 3-0 run in the promotion. For his part, Langaker has continuously put on a show for fans since arriving in ONE Championship in 2022. He earned a hard-earned victory over Brazilian grappling standout Renato Canuto in August last year and went on to submit former World Title challenger Uali Kurzhev in under three minutes earlier this year.

Marcus Almeida didn’t see scope for any mistake from either fighter

Both wins earned the 29-year-old performance bonuses, amounting to a total of US$100,000. Buchecha understands that as much as he is in awe of Ruotolo’s ground game, their styles play to their opponent’s strength, which makes this match’s outcome unpredictable. 

“[Langaker is] dangerous for an opponent, and I think that’s why it’s going to be a good fight. And I think [Kade’s] the kind of guy that doesn’t really care where he plays, from top or bottom, but I know Tommy will prefer to be on the bottom playing guard,” he said.

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“And I think that it’s going to be a perfect fight for Kade because Kade will play a lot from the top, trying to pass. So whoever makes the first mistake will pay the price.” Fans in North America can catch this match and the rest of ONE Fight Night 11 live and for free on Amazon Prime Video.