“I’ve never seen anything like it” - Chatri Sityodtong lauds "super nerd" Mikey Musumeci’s sublime BJJ skills
ONE CEO and Chairman Chatri Sityodtong has been all praise for ONE flyweight submission grappling world champion Mikey Musumeci. The legendary Thai entrepreneur was in-studio on Ariel Helwani's The MMA Hour.
It was one of the rare moments the CEO of ONE made an appearance in the US.
Amongst the myriad of things the two MMA personalities discussed, one very interesting bit was Chatri's take on ONE's newest submission grappling world champion, Mikey Musumeci.
Chatri said of Musumeci:
"He [Musumeci] calls himself a super nerd. In real life Mikey is the nicest, kindest guy but he literally is that kid in high school who was the nerd. He’s the kid that does math and academics. He really is that smart, by the way. But he happens to be a killer. I rolled with him, I’m 180 and he’s 135 and he runs through me like water."
The ONE CEO concluded with:
"Obviously he’s a multi-time world champion but the point is that I’ve never seen anything like it. I’ve rolled with many black belts and this guy is next-level. We have a lot of guys who are like that but I can’t predict who’s going to be the star."
Musumeci is a 5-tiime IBJJF world champion and is now a ONE submission grappling world champion. Just watching one of his matches makes you agree with what Chatri Sityodtong is saying: this man is built differently.
Watch Sityodtong's full interview below:
Chatri Sityodtong is open to signing Nate Diaz to ONE Championship
One of the more intriguing parts of the segment with Helwani was Chatri Sityodtong's interest in signing one of the most polarizing and popular MMA fighters today, Nate Diaz.
The legendary Stockton native just fought the final fight of his UFC contract and has expressed interest in dabbling into other sports.
ONE Championship currently showcases bouts in MMA, Muay Thai, kickboxing, and submission grappling. Diaz has a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and might become an exciting addition to ONE's growing submission grappling roster.
Chatri Sityodtong said of Diaz:
“What makes Nate interesting, obviously, is that he wants to do multiple sports and so that is definitely the platform of ONE. When you look at Roberto [Soldic], he says he wants to win world titles in all the major disciplines and he wants to be the greatest combat sports athlete ever.”
He added:
"I think having [it] all in one platform, that’s kind of Roberto’s thing, so when I look at Nate, there’s a possibility of that as well, like in boxing and grappling. I know he wants to do that so I mean, yeah, we’d be interested but it’s not our typical path.”
Imagine if Diaz does sign with ONE and win world titles in every martial art showcased in the organization. That will definitely skyrocket his status to "legend amongst legends".