“Foot work is very important” – Gabriel Sousa works on his passing game ahead of grappling tiff with Mikey Musumeci at ONE 167
Top-ranked AJP grappler and former IBJJF European No-Gi champion Gabriel Sousa will get a shot at his former rival, ONE flyweight submission grappling world champion Mikey Musumeci at ONE 167. On June 7th, the Brazilian Jiu-jitsu standout will perform under the bright lights of the Impact Arena in Bangkok, Thailand.
Sousa is coming into this contest with massive confidence as he is the last man to defeat the feared 'Darth Rigatoni', submitting him via north-south choke at WNO in 2021. This time, the two will lock horns at a higher weight class, ONE bantamweight (145 pounds).
Ahead of his massive contest against Musumeci, Gabriel Sousa was seen drilling some grappling fundamentals in the gym, as seen on his Instagram profile.
Here's the video of him drilling, with the caption that says:
"Foot work is very important while trying to do outside pass! ✌🏻moving side to side one of my favorite aways to warmup #ctrlsquad"
ONE heavyweight star and BJJ legend Marcus 'Buchehca' Almeida once said, "There are no black belt moves. Just white belt moves done on a black belt level." It's not about the fancy moves or over-the-top technique - it's about having strong fundamentals drilled to utter perfection. Gabriel Sousa is doing the right thing in his preparation for 'Darth Rigatoni'.
Mikey Musumeci has been eyeing Gabriel Sousa since last year
As it turns out, Mikey Musumeci has been interested in facing Sousa for a while now. After his most recent performance in ONE Championship - a swift submission win over Shinya Aoki - Musumeci posted a comment on who he wants to face next;
"My next two opponents that I want to challenge myself with are @diogoreisbjj and @gabrielsousabjj"
Diogo 'Baby Shark' Reis is one of the most promising young Jiu-jitsu athletes today, having already won the ADCC world title and World Jiu-jitsu Championships at just 22 years old.
If and when Musumeci gets past Sousa on June 7th, perhaps ONE Championship will be calling Reis' number, Only time will tell.
ONE 167 will air live on US Primetime on June 7, free of charge for existing Prime Video subscribers in North America.