Watch teenage phenom shock black belt with rare choke to win CJJ title

The jiujitsu phenom pulled off a rare “buggy” / “bunny” choke from bottom side control to win the Combat Jiujitsu lightweight title

The Rutolo brothers have been two of the best rising stars in the jiujitsu circuit in recent years, with the teenage twins Kade and Tye regularly beating adult black belts even as blue and purple belts. Fresh off being promoted to brown belt by BJJ great Andre Galvao last October, Kade Ruotolo shined at the 2020 Combat Jiujitsu World Championships.

Not only did the juvenile jiujitsu star beat a field of 16 grown men, he also landed an impressive and rare choke in the finals.

Ruotolo beat Laird Anderson, Danny Collazo and Jordan Holy to start the tournament. In the finals, he was matched up against an All-American wrestler and 10th Planet black belt in PJ Barch.

Three minutes into the contest, Kade was taken down but immediately secured an unconventional choke — from bottom side control nonetheless. Watch him land what people call the buggy / bunny choke to win the Combat Jiutjitsu lightweight title.

Here’s a demonstration and explanation of the move:

This choke is already rare even in the regional grappling scene, but it’s more impressive that Ruotolo managed to pull it off in the pro-circuit and against a highly regarded black belt as well.

The tournament win is another good example on why people in the grappling scene have been touting these teenage phenoms for a while now. It will be interesting to see how Kade and Tye’s careers develop as they’ve been growing up experiencing top level competition and coaching.