ONE Flyweight Submission Grappling World Champion Mikey Musumeci successfully defended his crown again at ONE Fight Night 13. This time his challenger was Jarred Brooks. Although “Darth Rigatoni” was able to secure the submission, Musumeci walked away impressed with the ONE Championship‘s strawweight king.
“He’s a real champion. Champions put themselves in uncomfortable positions. And they push themselves for growth. And he had no ego. He dropped his ego to come out here and grapple with me. And that’s what I define as a champion. So again, I have so much respect for that guy,” Musumeci said after ONE Fight Night 13.
Brooks is an accomplished wrestler, but his pure BJJ skills had not been shown on the global stage until ONE Fight Night 13. Even though he came out on the losing end, Brooks was able to showcase his overall ground skills to a worldwide audience. Musumeci recalled the surprises he encountered with Brooks as the two tangled on the canvas.
“Man, I grapple with so many high-level people, and he’s super tough and durable, super strong. I was really impressed by how he was hand-fighting me in closed guard. He was awesome, and again, props to him. He’s a warrior. He’s a World Champion in MMA, and he took a match with me in jiu-jitsu, going out of his comfort zone,” Musumeci said.
In each title defense, Musumeci explains he has nerves when entering the ring. But it is not a nervous energy built around competing or defending the gold. He is nervous because he wants to continue expanding the sport’s footprint.
Since arriving in ONE, Musumeci has been a centerpiece of the sport’s explosion. It was reflected in how the American audience exploded in cheers during his title defense at ONE Fight Night 5. That pressure continues to weigh on his shoulders.
“I get so much anxiety before these matches. It’s not about winning to me anymore. It’s about doing cool sequences, making it exciting so we can keep jiu-jitsu on this platform. It’s still tentative. If these matches don’t get finishes, these MMA and Muay Thai fans are just going to go to the bathroom during jiu-jitsu matches, and we’re going to lose jiu-jitsu on this platform. I got to keep it exciting,” Musumeci explained.
“Darth Rigatoni” does not carry the banner alone. The New Jersey native also credits the exciting matches both Kade and Tye Ruotolo have had since arriving in ONE as part of the sport’s success. As they continue to elevate its platform, Musumeci is grateful to be the standard bearer for the next wave of submission stars.
“The Ruotolos and I are basically the frontier people doing this, and we have to keep these matches exciting so we could keep it on this platform. And then the next generation could make money doing jiu-jitsu also like we are now. I don’t want people to have to feel that they have to do anything or another profession in order to make money. So we’re so blessed,” Musumeci said.
