“Do you even lift bro?” - Mikey Musumeci hits the weights after 10 years to bulk up to lightweight ahead of ONE 168
Mikey Musumeci added another aspect to his already stacked training camp ahead of his next world title match. The reigning ONE flyweight submission grappling world champion broke his decade-long sabbatical from lifting weights ahead of his world title challenge against Kade Ruotolo at ONE 168: Denver.
Musumeci will move up three weight classes to challenge Ruotolo for the ONE lightweight submission grappling world title on September 6 at the Ball Arena in Denver.
On his Instagram Stories, Musumeci revealed he hadn't lifted weights in 10 years but took up the practice to bulk up to 170 pounds in a healthier way.
Musumeci has been on a bulking spree since he moved up to bantamweight in his last matchup at ONE 167.
'Darth Rigatoni' moved up to 145 pounds when he faced and submitted old nemesis Gabriel Sousa this past June at the Impact Arena in Bangkok.
After submitting Sousa with a nasty calf slicer, Mikey Musumeci now heads in to arguably the biggest fight of his career.
Musumeci will try to claim another world title and improve on his perfect 7-0 ONE Championship against Ruotolo.
The ONE lightweight submission grappling world champion has an identical 7-0 record, much like Musumeci, but his last win came under a different sport as he submitted Blake Cooper in his MMA debut at ONE 167.
Tickets for ONE 168 are available at Ticketmaster.
Mikey Musumeci shares one particular reason why he loves using the calf slicer submission
Fighters often have a signature submission hold they would rely on multiple times throughout their careers, and Mikey Musumeci is no different.
Musumeci is a master of leg-based attacks, and one of his favorite holds is the nasty calf slicer.
In an Instagram video, Musumeci explained why the submission hold he used to submit Gabriel Sousa at ONE 167 is one of his favorites.
"So as you guys can see, I'm calfless and I lived my whole life calfless, you know. So that's why I love calf slicers, you know because I don't have calves so I could overcompensate for not having calves by taking people's calves off."