Mikey Musumeci says he’s higher than ever forward of his submission grappling conflict with Gabriel Sousa at ONE 167.
5-time IBJJF world champion and present ONE flyweight submission grappling world champion Mikey Musumeci is on a mission for redemption in opposition to the final man to defeat him in competitors.
On Friday, June 7, at ONE 167 in Bangkok, Thailand, the New Jersey native will sq. off with Gabriel Sousa in a non-title bantamweight submission grappling tilt that has given Musumeci some newfound motivation.
The pair first clashed in 2021 in a 155-pound submission-only bout at Who’s Quantity One. That night time, Sousa shocked a lot of the grappling world, passing Musumeci’s vaunted guard earlier than submitting him with a north-south choke.
That loss has caught with Musumeci, who says he’s been asking for the rematch for a while.
“I don’t wanna be outlined for simply being a champion,” he stated in an interview with ONE Championship. “What I wanna be outlined for is overcoming obstacles, overcoming issues that had been tougher for me. As a result of what can be straightforward for me is simply to remain in my weight class, the place I’ve, like, a 100% success price the final, like, 8 years. However Gabriel is the final individual to beat me. Proper? So in my thoughts, my aim is to get one of the best jiu-jitsu I can have. So how do I get that? I get that by dealing with the toughest challenges for me.”
Certainly, Musumeci is in for the hardest take a look at of his ONE tenure in opposition to Sousa. Since his upset victory again in 2021, the Brazilian has been a mainstay of the elite no-gi scene and earned silver on the 2022 ADCC World Championships.
Musumeci, although, is assured that he’s improved by leaps and bounds previously three years. For the primary time in a very long time, he says he’s taking his bodily preparations critically and has ready for this match like a real skilled athlete with a renewed give attention to energy and conditioning, weight loss program, and vitamin.
“I’ve gotten a lot f higher, dude. Bodily, technically, every little thing. I’m an athlete once more. When your ability degree is admittedly a lot greater than your different opponents, I didn’t actually should give attention to being an athlete.
“I might simply be a hobbyist. I simply educated in my storage with hobbyists and consuming no matter I would like, like simply pizza. However now for this match, I began maintaining a healthy diet once more. I’m extra just like the Mikey that he educated with Gordon Ryan, when he did European’s open weight, once I was a light-weight feather…
“I actually put myself to have one of the best possibilities to win this match, I consider, and I labored very f exhausting. And I turned an athlete once more. I’m not only a jiu-jitsu hobbyist bum coaching. Actually, that’s all I used to be doing for five years is simply coaching my storage with hobbyists. Or in Asia, it’s additionally hobbyists. So I turned outdated Mikey once more with that starvation and and wanting to do every little thing proper.”
To say that Musumeci is fired up for his rematch with Sousa can be an understatement. He is aware of {that a} victory over Sousa would silence lots of his critics who say he’s confronted lesser competitors in ONE or can’t cling with prime ADCC athletes.
With that in thoughts, he’s getting ready for warfare at ONE 167.
“I’ve this f* loopy mindset proper now,” he added. “And I don’t have persistence. I’ve ADHD. I don’t need him to f* keep again. I would like him to f* come at me like a missile. Let him have his energy. Let him have his energy. I’m f* prepared for it. And I would like him to dogfight with me. After which we’ll see who’s standing after that… That’s what’s superior about these matches. It pushes our will.”
How one can watch: Mikey Musumeci vs. Gabriel Sousa takes place at ONE 167 on Friday, June 7, and can air reside on Prime Video (free with Amazon Plus subscription) starting at 8:00 PM ET. Followers can watch here.
