# Kade Ruotolo

> Black Belt | United States

## Overview

**Name:** Kade Ruotolo

**Belt Rank:** Black Belt

**Nationality:** United States

**Gender:** Male

**Weight:** 77 kg

**Date of Birth:** January 01, 2003 (age 23)


## Bio

Kade Ruotolo was born in January 2003, in Maui, state of Hawaii, USA, being of Italian & Puerto Rican heritage.

Although born in Hawaii, the Ruotolo’s moved to Huntington Beach, California in their infancy, where they settled. While in the Golden State, Kade’s parents (who are strong grappling advocates) took full advantage of the growing local jiu-jitsu scene by signing Kade and his twin brother, Tye, to  Cleber Luciano ‘s school during the mid-2000s, with the Ruotolo Brothers experiencing their first competition at the age of 3 (2006).

Guided by their father – a trained grappler – and Luciano, the Ruotolo’s quickly made waves in the sport as grappling’s first child-stars. This status earned the twins a sponsorship with one of the top lifestyle brands in the nation (RVCA), at the age of 10. Their positive results also led them to the growing Art Of Jiu-Jitsu academy (AOJ), where Kade and Tye remained for nearly 4 years, being led by  Guilherme  and  Rafael Mendes .

Midway through 2017, the Ruotolo Twins changed camps, moving their training to the Atos Headquarters Academy in San Diego – A team to which AOJ was affiliated at the time. At the Atos HQ, Kade’s tuition was taken over by  André Galvão , who graded the duo from green belt onwards.

On December 14, 2021, André Galvão promoted Kade and his brother, Tye, to the rank of black belt in jiu-jitsu.

KADE RUOTOLO BELT PROMOTIONS

– April 5, 2018, blue belt (15-years-old) 
– December 27, 2019, purple belt (16-years-old). 
– October 19, 2020, brown belt (17-years-old). 
– December 14, 2021, black belt (18-years-old)

Traditionally BJJ Heroes has only accounted for black belt records as they signify an athlete’s entry into our sport’s elite ranks, the professional division. Kade, however, is a special case in our sport as he’s been competing in the pro-grappling circuit since his purple-belt days, beating some of the sport’s top-ranked athletes. This left BJJ Heroes with a delicate predicament of defining when to start accounting for the young prodigy’s match records, as these wins should be noted for the importance they had on Ruotolo’s career.

To capture Kade’s full progress in our sport, we have decided to include his matches in the pro circuit, prior to his black belt. Readers should keep in mind he was still a brown and purple belt throughout his 2020-2021 campaigns.

Kade Ruotolo vs Andrew Tackett
## Specialties

- scramble-jitsu, leg-pin guard-pass, darce choke
## Achievements

- 1st Place ADCC (2022)
- 1st Place Craig Jones Invitational (2024)
- 1st Place WNO Championship (2021)
- GrappleFest 70KG Belt Holder (2020)
- 3rd Place 3QG Kumite 5 GP (2020)
- One FC 170 lb Grappling Title Holder (2022)
- 1st Place EBI Combat Jiu-Jitsu Championship (2020)
- 1st Place IBJJF World Championship (2019, 2021 brown)
- 1st Place IBJJF Pan Championship (2019)
- 1st Place IBJJF European Open (2019*)
- 1st Place IBJJF Pan Kids Championship (2010 / 2014 / 2015 / 2017 / 2018)
- 1st Place IBJJF Kids International Championship (2014 / 2016)
- 1st Place IBJJF Kids American Nationals (2014 / 2015)
- 2nd Place IBJJF European Open (2019)
- 3rd Place IBJJF Pan Championship (2019*)
## Lineage

- André Galvão (Black Belt)

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**Last Updated:** October 01, 2026

**Data Source:** bjj.space (https://bjj.space/people/kade-ruotolo)