Mikey Musumeci believes ONE Championship will change the sport of grappling

ONE Championship returns with ONE Fight Night 2: Lee vs. Xiong III on Saturday, 1 October, with plenty of gold up for grabs – and not just in the main event. 

History will be made when Mikey Musumeci lock horns for the third time with Cleber Sousa for the inaugural ONE Flyweight Submission Grappling World Championship. 

Since his victorious debut at ONE 156 in April over Masakazu Imanari, Musumeci has been eager to return to the Singapore Indoor Stadium to showcase his World Championship grappling skills, and now he finally gets his wish.

He faces old foe Sousa, who he has shared the mats with on two other occasions. The first time they met under submission grappling rules, Sousa beat Musumeci by decision. Months later, however, Musumeci earned some redemption by snatching a victory.

ALSO READ | Angela Lee Looking To Settle Unfinished Business With Xiong Jing Nan

Now the two grappling dynamos will compete for the most prestigious belt of all – the ONE Flyweight Submission Grappling World Title.

Belt aside, the American BJJ ace in Musumeci is also excited to showcase his skills for a promotion that is elevating submission grappling to the same level as MMA.

“[Even after] winning black belt world [titles] five times in IBJJF, one match in ONE was like 10 times the amount of publicity. It's like, ‘Holy crap.’ That just puts things into perspective [on] how big ONE is. And that's why I see it as such an amazing opportunity for all the jiu-jitsu athletes,” Musumeci said.

“So, I'm really excited about this path with ONE. And I really do believe that this is the future of jiu-jitsu. I'm so excited about it. I'm really passionate when I talk about it.”

Aside from the grappling title bout between Musumeci and Sousa, Angela Lee and Xiong Jing Nan will also complete their trilogy.

Xiong will put her ONE Strawweight World Title on the line against Angela Lee yet again. The last time the two met for Xiong's belt, the Chinese athlete scored a fifth-round KO. Lee evened the score months later, however, defending her atomweight gold with a fifth-round submission.

If Lee wins this time around, she will become the first-ever ONE female athlete to hold belts in two different weight divisions.

Catch all the action at ONE Fight Night 2 starting with the lead card on Disney+ Hotstar and Star Sports Select 1 at 5:30 a.m. IST on Saturday, October 1. The main card will follow on Disney+ Hotstar and Star Sports Select 1 at 7:30 a.m. IST.

LEAVE A COMMENT

Please login to leave a comment

0 Comments