Gabriel Sousa has not wasted a split second getting ready for Mikey Musumeci redo: “I’ve been watching him from the very start”
BJJ black belt Gabriel Sousa said he has long prepared for his scheduled rematch with Mikey Musumeci, even before the match was announced.
The Fortaleza, Brazil native made this known in an interview on El Estudio De Leo on YouTube ahead of his redo with 'Darth Rigatoni' at ONE 167: Tawanchai vs Nattawut on June 7 at the Impact Arena in Bangkok, Thailand.
Sousa, 27, said he was already expecting to mix it up once again with Musumeci at some point and he has been preparing for it, relaying:
"I've been watching him from the very start, at the start of my fight camp, like as soon as they announced it. So when they asked me to fight, I was ready, I was like, 'Alright, I'm good to go'. And ever since then I started watching him."
Watch the interview below:
Gabriel Sousa first took on Musumeci outside of ONE Championship in September 2021 and won by submission. It is the same result he is angling to achieve in their rematch and his ONE Championship debut.
For his part, Musumeci is out to stay unscathed in ONE and exact payback on Sousa even if he will be going up a division from flyweight, where he is the promotion's submission grappling king.
ONE 167 will air live and for free in U.S. primetime to North American fans with an active Amazon Prime Video subscription.
Gabriel Sousa shares what his training camp for ONE 167 is like
Gabriel Sousa is covering all the bases for his ONE Championship debut next week at ONE 167 in Thailand in the hopes of coming up with a winning performance and sending a message to the rest of the field.
The ZR Team athlete said upcoming opponent Mikey Musumeci is no longer new to him, having fought and defeated him previously, and that training for their rematch on June 7 circles around what he already knows about 'Darth Rigatoni' and adding some new stuff to make his game plan well-rounded.
He gave an idea on what training camp has been like for ONE 167 in the same interview with El Estudio De Leo, saying:
"The training camp is basically based on how to get around his guard and pass again. That's basically what I've been doing. Just been doing the same thing I did to beat him and trying to add a bit more techniques."
Coming into ONE 167, Gabriel Sousa has over 200 submission grappling matches under his belt and has won his last four fights.