“I almost gave him the belt!” - Rodtang recalls how best bro Mikey Musumeci helped him make weight at ONE Fight Night 10
Rodtang Jitmuangnon nearly made Mikey Musumeci a two-sport world champion, well not exactly.
It's been heavily documented that flyweight world champions Rodtang and Musumeci are two of the closest friends in ONE Championship, and the flyweight Muay Thai king revealed he nearly gave his belt to 'Darth Rigatoni' in a huge gesture.
Rodtang told ONE Championship in an interview that Musumeci was instrumental in his successful weight cut ahead of his world title defense against Edgar Tabares at ONE Fight Night 10 in May 2023.
'The Iron Man' said he was stressed beyond belief heading into the official weigh-ins until the ONE flyweight submission grappling world champion helped him make the division's limit of 135 pounds.
Rodtang said:
"Then he came to help me again when we fought on the same card [ONE Fight Night 10] in the USA. I told him that I firmly believed that I couldn't make it in time. But Mikey insisted I could. I made weight successfully, and it was one pound less than the required limit. I almost gave him the belt!"
Without bestowing a new belt to his close friend, Rodtang came away victorious in his world title defense when he knocked out Tabares in the second round.
As for Musumeci, the American star also came away with the win in his world title defense against Osamah Almarwai.
Musumeci submitted the IBJJF no-gi world champion with a clinical rear-naked choke to retain the ONE flyweight submission grappling world title in Denver.
Rodtang says he'll wait for Mikey Musumeci before restarting MMA training
Rodtang primarily fights under Muay Thai and kickboxing rules in ONE Championship, but he decided to expand his horizon a bit when he took on Demetrious Johnson in a historic mixed-rules fight.
Johnson, who now reigns as the ONE flyweight MMA world champion, submitted Rodtang in the groundbreaking match at ONE X in March 2022.
Since then, the Thai megastar has yet to dabble back in MMA.
Rodtang said he'll only restart his MMA training if his close friend Mikey Musumeci returns to Thailand and trains with him.
He told ONE Championship:
"After my fight with DJ, I didn't practice any more MMA. I just focused on Muay Thai and kickboxing. But if there's an opportunity, I'll wait for Mikey to come. I'll build a gym and bring Mikey to teach me."