Mikey Musumeci wants to fight Adriano Moraes In Brazil

Mikey Musumeci extended his unbeaten run in ONE Championship this past weekend, but “Darth Rigatoni” didn’t leave the Circle satisfied with his performance.

The 26-year-old battled his way to a hard-fought decision victory against Gantumur Bayanduuren to successfully defend his ONE Flyweight Submission Grappling World Title at ONE Fight Night 6 in Bangkok, Thailand, on Saturday, 14 January.

Musumeci sought hard for a finish against the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu brown belt, utilizing his leglock expertise. However, his Mongolian foe proved a stricter adversary than expected.

The New Jersey native attempted multiple leglocks including knee bars and heel hooks that even made commentary guest Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson grimace.

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Bayanduuren’s durability saw him complete the whole ten minutes despite Musumeci’s grueling cranks. As hard as Musumeci fought, the submission was not to be.

“It’s the most nauseous I've been after a match, but it was interesting. Sometimes I have this problem when I fight. I get too stubborn on a submission, or I focus on something and then they change to do something else,” Musumeci said.

“Eventually, I was like, screw it. I looked at my corner and they [told] me there [were] two minutes left, so I let go and then took his back. I probably should have done that earlier. But how do I, if I keep doing damage to a certain leg? I definitely have never been in that exact scenario.

“It was new for me, for sure. I don't even want to watch the match back.”

On the back of two successive World Title defenses, “Darth Rigatoni” has cemented himself as a grappling king in ONE. So much so that his name is now on the lips of other promotional standouts.

One, in particular, is former ONE flyweight king Adriano “Mikinho” Moraes - a challenge that Musumeci happily accepts.

“Moraes is a black belt in jiu-jitsu and he’s actually requested to have a match with me multiple times, so I think we should just do it in Brazil,” he said.

While Musumeci has amassed a dominant 3-0 record in ONE’s flyweight submission grappling division, the weightclass’ king isn’t satisfied with success in one individual art form.

With a background in Muay Thai, the American is no stranger to the striking arts either. Given the chance, Musumeci would like to piece together his craft and see what the mixed martial arts world has to offer.

“I wouldn't say it’s soon,” Musumeci said. “I train at EVOLVE, so I have the best Muay Thai program in the world. I plan on learning Muay Thai in the next year or so and see where my level goes.

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“I did Muay Thai for seven years as a kid, so I have a background. I just have to learn it again. I would just like to see how I progress over time and then I would love to see if I like to do MMA.”

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