“It definitely was a sweet feeling” - Mikey Musumeci says Gabriel Sousa revenge couldn’t have gone better
Mikey Musumeci reflected on the "sweet feeling" he acquired from defeating Gabriel Sousa earlier this year.
In June, Musumeci made his seventh appearance under the ONE Championship banner in a bantamweight grappling match against Gabriel Sousa. 'Darth Rigatoni' had added motivation to emerge victorious at ONE 167, as Sousa defeated him in another promotion and allegedly has been talking trash to him over the years.
Musumeci exceeded the fans' expectations and submitted Sousa with a calf slicer. During an interview with Cageside Press, the ONE flyweight submission grappling world champion had this to say about winning the rematch:
"It definitely was a sweet feeling to get him. Because since 2021, he kept talking crap, He kept saying, 'Oh, I want to fight him again... Oh, he won't come up to my weight class... Oh, he's scared. He only wants easy matches.'"
Musumeci continued by saying:
"So he kept saying things like this to me and discrediting my opponents. I had COVID when I competed with him, and I competed with him at 155. In that same year, I won 125 Worlds a month later. So I was just challenging myself by doing a heavier division."
In September 2022, Mikey Musumeci became the inaugural ONE flyweight submission grappling world champion. Since then, he's defended his throne against Gantumur Bayanduuren, Osamah Almarwai, and Jarred Brooks.
Watch Musumeci's entire interview with Cageside Press below:
Mikey Musumeci looks for the biggest win of his submission grappling career against Kade Ruotolo
Mikey Musumeci has continued to test himself during his ONE Championship tenure. On September 6, the American superstar will face the ultimate challenge as he's scheduled to compete against 2022 ADCC world champion Kade Ruotolo for his ONE lightweight submission grappling title.
Similar to Musumeci, Ruotolo holds an undefeated promotional record of 6-0, including wins against Tommy Langaker x2 and Francisco Lo. In June, the 21-year-old also made his professional MMA debut, defeating Blake Cooper by first-round submission to extend his combat sports resume.
Ruotolo vs Musumeci will serve as the co-main event for ONE 168: Denver, which goes down inside the Ball Arena. Tickets for the highly-anticipated event featuring two world title fights can be found on Ticketmaster.