ONE Championship: Mikey Musumeci bemoans 'worst day of my life in jiu jitsu' after losing title on scale with hydration fail
Former ONE Championship flyweight submission grappling king Mikey Musumeci bemoaned the "worst day of my life" after losing his title on the scale at the end of Thursday's dramatic weigh-ins.
Musumeci arrived with around half an hour left of the official three-hour window but failed a hydration test for his title defense against IBJJF champion Bebeto Oliveira at ONE 168 in Denver.
The hastily re-arranged co-main event of Friday night's card in Colorado saw Musumeci attempt a short notice switch to his natural weight class, having been preparing for a lightweight super fight against 170lbs champion Kade Ruotolo.
Plans were thrown into disarray when Ruotolo, 21, withdrew injured this week, hot on the heels of his triumph last month at the Craig Jones Invitational.
Musumeci was desperate to stay on the card in his home country and accepted the short notice fight against Brazil's Oliveira this week, only to miss weight.
The 28-year-old wrote in an emotional Instagram post on Thursday night:
"Probably one of the worst days of my life in jiu jitsu. I wanted so bad to compete on ONE 168 in Denver, I felt horrible [for] the fans that were coming to see me and I felt I was letting them down. I tried to make the championship 135lbs weight in about 72 hours but it was too much on short notice after preparing for the Kade match."
Sportskeeda reached out to ONE officials on Thursday evening, but the status of the fight is still uncertain.
Should it go ahead, Musumeci will be able to win the vacant flyweight title.
Oliveira, who was second up to the scales at the host Sheraton Denver Downtown Hotel, passed hydration and made weight with no issues, could claim the belt with victory at Ball Arena.
Musumeci, who defended his title in Denver in May 2023 with a rear-naked choke submission of Osamah Almarwai, added:
"My body and hydration shut down when I got to 136 earlier today. Today I lost my belt, today I let down the fans and i want to apologise to my opponent Bebeto, someone I respect greatly, not being able to make the weight. I’m so sorry to everyone I gave it my all. But God has everything happen for a reason. I’m so sorry again everyone."