“She was horrified of me competing” - Mikey Musumeci recalls early days of going against his mother’s wish to compete in BJJ
American grappling ace Mikey Musumeci has established a solid career in Brazilian jiu-jitsu but admits that early on his mother expressed reservations about him competing.
Currently the ONE flyweight submission grappling world champion, and prior to that a highly decorated athlete on the BJJ circuit, 'Darth Rigatoni' shared that his mother was not outrightly sold on him competing when he was just starting. Eventually, seeing how he was passionate and dedicated to his craft, his mother gave in.
Mikey Musumeci, 27, shared this in an interview with ONE Championship
"My mom didn't even want me to compete. I was like 13, 12 years old. She's like, 'Please, no more competing.' She hated it, she was horrified of me competing."
He added:
"She's like, 'Alright, just win one more tournament and then no more competing, please.' I was gonna be competing at NAGA at this time, and I'm like, 'Mom, I want another belt.' I won another belt, so I fought again and then I'd win a belt. And then I'm like, 'Wait, wait, one more tournament, please!' And then I ended up just keep competing."
Good thing for Mikey Musumeci, he fought for what he was passionate about and it all made the difference in becoming the noted BJJ athlete that he is now.
Mikey Musumeci to take on another challenge at ONE 167
Not one to shy from challenges, Mikey Musumeci is out to test himself again in his next fight, going a weight division higher to take on a familiar opponent who dealt him his last defeat.
'Darth Rigatoni' will battle ONE Championship-debuting Gabriel Sousa in a bantamweight submission grappling duel at ONE 167 on June 7.
It is part of the stacked card of the event, happening at the Impact Arena in Bangkok, Thailand, and is available live and for free in U.S. primetime to North American fans with an active Amazon Prime Video subscription.
At ONE 167, the flyweight submission grappling king will try to exact payback on Sousa, who defeated him by submission in their first showdown in October 2021 prior to him joining ONE Championship.
But Mikey Musumeci has bounced back well since then, racking up nine straight victories, the last six under ONE. His last victory was against Japanese legend Shinya Aoki by submission in their openweight grappling match last October.