Last weekend was a tremendous showing for the Atos Jiu-Jitsu team!
On June 5th, superstar blue belts Tye and Kade Ruotolo both won matches via referee decision at the FloGrappling and Fight2Win Who’s Number One event. The following day, Atos black belt Gustavo Batista battled his way to the $10,000 win in the Third Coast Grappling Kumite!
The common denominator? The leadership of Andre Galvao, multiple-time ADCC and World Champion and arguably one of the greatest coaches in sport jiu-jitsu today.
We caught up with Professor Galvao, to get his breakdown on each of their performances, and what makes his students among the best competitors in the world:
Kade Ruotolo:
17-year-old Kade Ruotolo faced off against Renzo Gracie black belt Ethan Crelinsten. The match went the entire time limit, with Kade winning by unanimous decision.
Professor Galvao noted that Kade’s performance was nothing short of excellent, especially given he was battling a previous injury. “Kade did amazing, he kept the pace non-stop the entire fight. What no one knows is that Kade got hurt during the camp for this fight. He ended up not training for the last two weeks prior to that fight, but he still went in to fight and he fought until the end.”
During the camp, Professor Galvao focused on maximizing Kade’s natural creativity, improving his pressure game, and pushing him to become a submission hunter: “ With Kade, we worked a lot on submission attacks. Kade had great armbar attempt, and that’s what gave him the victory in the eyes of the judges. Kade always pushes a very impressive pace, and has unnatural mobility, which helps him do the creative moves he likes to do doing his fights, which always surprises his opponents. I’ve been working on Kade’s pressure as well, making sure he stabilizes the positions once he conquers the space during the fight.”
Professor Galvao noted that Kade and his brother have an incredible future: “Kade is still young and this is just the beginning. My project is to make the Ruotolo Brothers the scariest athletes ever in jiu-jitsu. It is awesome to see them succeeding and achieving so much already in life! It is only the beginning!”
Tye Ruotolo:
Kade’s twin brother, Tye, faced off against Nicky Ryan, the little brother of Gordon Ryan, in one of the most anticipated fights on the card. This match also went the entire time limit, with Tye winning by referee decision after an incredibly dominate performance.
According to Professor Galvao, Tye’s performance showcased the young athlete’s impressive competitive nature: “Tye impressed everyone by the pace he imposed during the entire fight. He did an excellent job avoiding Nicky’s attacks, using his mobility, speed and technique… a lot of technique. One of the techniques Tye has been using lately on top is his leg pin pass. He has very impressive balance and coordination, and you can see this with that pass and how he used it again Nicky.”
During camp, Professor Galvao focused on improving Tye’s pressure passing and submission hunting game. “We saw Tye attacking the whole fight, and that is what we trained. We drilled non-stop attacking, constantly moving side-to-side, and keeping a strong pace the entire time (because I know my student has a great cardio). Tye also moves really well, but lately I’ve been adding the pressure pass game on his arsenal, too.”
Just like his brother, Tye’s future is bright: “The fight was super impressive and I’m so proud of my student. Tye is still young, he is only 17, and we know there are a lot things that we can add to his game. Tye is a natural born competitor, he loves it, and he also loves big challenges. I believe that is what makes Tye a special fighter at a such young age.”
Gustavo Batista:
The day after the WNO event, Atos black belt Gustavo Bautista fought at the Third Coast Grappling Kumite, with an 8-man bracket packed with some of the top athletes in sport jiu-jitsu today. After three impressive wins, Gustavo came out on top to become the TCG Kumite champion and winner of the $10,000 prize money.
According to Professor Galvao, Gustavo came into the tournament with arguably the toughest matchups: “Even getting the toughest side of the bracket and fighting THREE world champions back-to-back, Gustavo completely dominated his opponents. He did an amazing job passing the guard using his impressive pressure and non-stop-pace. He was shutting down everyone’s guard easily.”
Professor Galvao noted that Gustavo is an impressively controlled athlete, equally comfortable on top as he is on bottom: “What impresses me most about Batista is how he controls the fight. He always manages every situation, no matter the top or bottom, always. He has a very strong one-leg X and 50-50 guard, and he also passes really well using the knee cut. Before the fight, we worked a lot on improving his cardio, tightening all his techniques, and increasing his aggressiveness. It wasn’t easy because of the quarantine, but we were able to do a lot of specific training, and we had a great system going.”
Regarding Gustavo’s future as an athlete, Professor Galvao noted: “Gustavo is an incredible athlete, but he can still improve more. There are things we are adding in his game, like take downs, for example. My goal as a coach is to make my students complete competitors in every single situation: top, bottom, standing and submissions.”
Congratulations Tye, Kade and Gustavo!!