Darth Rigatoni’ Mikey Musumeci was a fan favourite in ONE Championship and a reigning titleholder of their submission grappling division. The American-Italian grappler walked away from ONE and signed with the UFC.
Mikey Musumeci
It’s an fascinating signing as Mikey Musumeci doesn’t at the moment compete in MMA, however the UFC additionally doesn’t have a submission grappling division. Thus, it could be a sign for the long run that the UFC is increasing into Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu competitions.
Musumeci was scheduled to face fellow grappler Kade Ruotolo in a BJJ match however Ruotolo suffered an damage and needed to withdraw. ‘Darth Rigatoni’ was then rebooked however at a a lot decrease weight and was compelled to chop practically 30 kilos in only a few days which led to sickness. He was unable to make weight and was hospitalized. So as to add insult to damage, Mikey Musumeci was additionally stripped of his title resulting from this incident.
Mikey Musumeci Leaving ONE Championship
Talking in an interview with Ariel Helwani, Mikey Musumeci defined why he left ONE. He mentioned:
“My contract was coming to an finish, principally. I simply wished to be again dwelling within the U.S. Once more, I really like ONE Championship, however I used to be there due to my relationship with Chatri. He was like a guardian to me. He was in all probability my closest good friend for a couple of years, and that’s why I moved to Asia. Then I made a decision I wished to be again within the U.S., near my household. The UFC is 10 to fifteen minutes from my home, so it’s a no brainer for me, particularly being American. I additionally really feel the UFC can carry rather a lot to grappling. It’s lastly one other platform that may broaden our sport to individuals who wouldn’t usually watch jiu-jitsu.
“It’s a platform that may ultimately have drug testing, a platform that may make our sport skilled. Proper now, there’s an excessive amount of with steroids and craziness. I simply desire a respectable, skilled platform for athletes. For youths rising up, they will dream of being skilled jiu-jitsu athletes with out fascinated by switching careers. Essentially the most success I can have as an individual is setting that path for the following era.
“I have no hard feelings toward ONE. How could I? They helped me grow so much as a person. I’m full of gratitude for Chatri. We were like a dysfunctional family sometimes—disagreements, fights—but at the end of the day, I’m grateful for everything he’s done for me. I’d never speak badly about him.”
On Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu promoters as a complete, he added:
“In fact. I’ll simply say broadly—there’s a whole lot of shadiness and shady promoters who do messed-up issues behind the scenes.
“Being in it for therefore a few years, you get burnt out. It doesn’t really feel respectable or skilled. You become profitable right here and there, however then a shady arms supplier promotes an occasion, and out of the blue they’ve cash. You become profitable as soon as, after which it disappears. Is that this what we would like for the following era? No. We want a respectable group, like MLB, NBA, or NFL, the place we don’t need to query in the event that they’ll have cash a 12 months from now.“
Mikey Musumeci Explains UFC Signing
A BJJ athlete has by no means signed a contract with the UFC simply to do submission grappling, however Mikey Musumeci has achieved precisely that. Being pals and assembly Hunter Campbell on the UFC Efficiency Institute helped this growth. On why this occurred, he defined:
“Throughout that point, I educated in Vegas and was at UFC PI rather a lot. I met Hunter there; we turned good pals, and that’s how the connection began … They’re attempting to take over jiu-jitsu like they did MMA. Their purpose is to develop the game exponentially—grappling leagues, every thing.“
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu ace ‘Darth Rigatoni’ Mikey Musumeci would be the begin of the UFC’s growth into the submission grappling world.
