Kade And Tye Ruotolo Promoted to Black Belt

Kade and Tye Ruotolo are now black belts in BJJ. Just days after taking first and second in the brown belt division at the 2021 IBJJF Worlds, the twin brothers were promoted to black belt by Atos head instructor Andre Galvao.

Galvao posted about the promotion on Instagram.

The Ruotolo brothers were highly touted competitors throughout the juvenile ranks, winning practically every major IBJJF tournament. In 2019 and 2020, they turned from prospects to legitimate elite competitors, appearing and winning on some of the sport’s biggest no-gi stages, all before they could legally buy a pack of cigarettes. Tye earned fourth at the 2019 ADCC Championships.

Although they had already established themselves as staples of the no-gi scene, both Ruotolo brothers experienced a breakout year in 2021. Kade captured the Who’s Number One (WNO) lightweight title and recently punched his ticket to the 2022 ADCC Championships with a gold medal performance at the ADCC East Coast Trials, defeating the likes of PJ Barch and William Tackett. Similarly, Tye captured the middleweight WNO title earlier this year, as well. Tye’s only loss in competition this year came to ADCC silver medalist Craig Jones in a close decision loss.

Congratulations to the Ruotolo brothers on their promotion to black belt.

Ben Coate

Ben has been involved with grappling, whether through wrestling or Brazilian jiu-jitsu, essentially his entire life. After wrestling throughout his childhood, Ben found Brazilian jiu-jitsu as a young adult and quickly fell in love. He has been training for over ten years and currently holds the rank of brown belt, and remains involved in both the MMA and BJJ scene. Ben has been writing about combat sports since 2017. He has interviewed and profiled some of MMA's biggest stars, including multiple UFC champions.

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