I wrote a breakdown of Roberto Jimenez vs Andrew Wiltse, but with Andrew pulling out I had to scrap it, so I'll do one for Roberto vs Kade Ruotolo, who stepped in on short notice.
Roberto has proven himself to be a force since his black belt debut. His main weapon is his back take and RNC, which he uses every chance he gets. He will attack the back from almost any position and he will put a pace on people that they can't keep up with. What separates Roberto from others isn't his setups for the back take, but his ability to climb the back and then secure the position.
On top of his back taking skills he also has very good fundamental BJJ. He can be very dangerous from closed guard and can hit opponents with subs from almost anywhere. His greatest asset might be his timing. He is very fast and knows the right moment to strike. He always goes for the kill and 76% of his wins are by submission. Roberto is particularly potent in scrambles and usually comes out on top when people try to play this game with him.
Kade's main strength is his relentless pace and pressure. He is better on top than on bottom, but even from his guard he is no slouch. One thing that makes the Rutolos so hard to prepare for is their well roundedness. It's hard to find an area where Kade isn't dangerous and he will attack with a variety of submissions. Recently he has been submitting people with buggy chokes(see the video below).
Kade has a number of unusual and unique moves that are hard to prepare for and it must be difficult to find training partners to emulate his style. His leg pin passing, darce choke and fearless fighting style make him difficult to strategize for. On top of that he is also very physical and doesn't mind ruffing up his opponents.
Keys to Victory
These 2 fought last year and Roberto beat Kade by RNC. This will be a rematch and normally I think it would be easy to pick Roberto since he won before. The problem is that Kade has improved a lot over the year and I'm not sure you can compare the older performances to now. Kade has not only increased his technique, but he also seems stronger than before. That said Roberto is still larger and should have a strength advantage. If he leans into this he might be able to grind Kade out in a manner similar to what Craig Jones did to Tye Rutolo.
Roberto needs to use his strength and size to take Kade down and stay on top of him. This will allow him to either win a decision or cause Kade to make a mistake giving Roberto a back take. Kade loves to move around and if Roberto can slow him down he has a good chance of beating him. Roberto should have a significant weight & strength advantage and he should use that. If Roberto lands in the bottom position he might be better off trying to stand rather than play from his back. In their last match as Roberto almost passed Kade's guard he caused a scramble that lead to the RNC. This might work, but keep in mind that Roberto briefly got caught in the saddle/4-11/inside sankaku when he did this and he might not want to tempt fate by doing that again. Roberto has a very good guard, but Kade is one of the best guard passers in the world right now IMHO. On top Roberto should be in control and might be able to finish him as he did in his previous match.
Kade should try to stay on top and try to pass Robert's guard. Kade could also try attacking Roberto's legs and catching him with a heel hook, kneebar, etc. The Rutolos have shown they are able to enter into and attack their opponents' legs. If Kade tries this strategy he needs to be careful of any berimbolo style reversals, but he might have success with this approach. 42% of Roberto's losses come from leg locks. Attacking this weakness could yield Kade a quick win, but he needs to be careful. Kade loves to scramble, but that might be dangerous against someone like Roberto. In their previous match Roberto took Kade's back when Kade tried to put him in the saddle and heelhook him. Kade needs to be very cautious, but assuming he has improved his leglocks, attacking Roberto's lower body isn't such a bad idea.
This should be a very exciting match as both of them can keep going all day and they're always moving.
Who you got?
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