Kade Ruotolo recently opened up about the financial side of his exclusive ONE Championship contract…Surprising many grappling fans with the numbers.
Since signing with the promotion, Kade and his brother Tye Ruotolo have maintained undefeated records in ONE Championship – with Kade securing the lightweight title in 2022 and Tye following suit a year later by claiming the welterweight belt.
In an interview with Raphaella Amorim, Kade Ruotolo revealed just how much he earns per fight:
We signed to ONE Championship because financially, we’re making upwards of $100,000 every fight you know?
So why go fight for less money on a different promotion when you could come to ONE Championship and make hundreds of thousands of dollars?
This figure is significantly higher than what other promotions offer, but it comes with a catch.ONE Championship contracts are exclusive, meaning athletes cannot compete elsewhere while under contract.
Despite this, Kade recently participated in the Craig Jones Invitational, winning the $1 million prize.So, how did he manage to get approval from ONE?
We got the clearance from ONE Championship.It was hard, I was arguing with Chatri (Sityodtong) you know?
But we got the clearance to come compete here for CJI so it was a no brainer.