In an interview with Ariel Helwani, rising BJJ star Kade Ruotolo opened up about the prevalence and acceptance of PEDs in the sport of Brazilian jiu-jitsu. Ruotolo, at just 21 years old, has already achieved incredible success, becoming the youngest ADCC world champion in history. However, he expressed concern over the cultural embrace of PED use within BJJ circles.
“We never really had ster*id testing. Even now, they only test the winner of the black belt division at Worlds,” Ruotolo stated, highlighting the lack of comprehensive anti-doping measures. “Therefore, obviously, just almost 99.9% of athletes have been riding [on PEDs] since pretty much the beginning of time.”
Ruotolo contrasted this environment to other major sports where using PEDs is strictly prohibited and viewed as a violation of ethics and fair play. “It’s something my brother and I, we’ve always kind of spoken out against. We’re not fond of it,” he said. “There’s a lot of team owners, gyms, and idols that kids look up to, and they basically tell them, ‘If you want to make it, you’ve got to have on the juice.'”
The young grappling phenom expressed his desire to change this narrative and provide a positive example for aspiring athletes. “We’re just trying to break that cycle and have more natural athletes standing up and showing that you can do it without steroids,” Ruotolo affirmed.
As Ruotolo continues his meteoric rise in the sport, including an upcoming superfight against Mikey Musumeci at ONE 168, he aims to use his platform to advocate for clean competition and a cultural shift away from the normalization of PED use in Brazilian jiu-jitsu.
