“It will be interesting if it’s combat jiu-jitsu” - Tiffany Teo offers a middle ground for a Mikey Musumeci vs. Demetrious Johnson match
ONE women’s atomweight contender Tiffany Teo believes that Mikey Musumeci and Demetrious could get find a middle ground and have their superfight under combat jiu-jitsu rules.
Musumeci issued a respectful challenge to Johnson, the ONE flyweight world champion, before his fight against Cleber Sousa. The pair collided for the inaugural ONE flyweight submission grappling world championship at ONE on Prime Video 2 last month.
‘Darth Rigatoni’ even doubled down on his request following his world title win at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.
While the first thought is to have Musumeci and Johnson fight in a mixed-rules bout, Teo said that the two could reach a compromise and have a CJJ match instead.
In an interview with ONE Championship, Tiffany Teo said:
“I’m not too sure about how DJ’s grappling is, but in the context of MMA, he has really good MMA grappling. I think it will be interesting if it’s combat jiu-jitsu. I think that’s the middle ground. I mean, a pure jiu-jitsu athlete while DJ is an MMA guy, so I think the best way is to meet in the middle and do combat jiu-jitsu. There are no punches, just open-palm strikes involved. It’s exciting to watch also. I think combat jiu-jitsu would be an interesting rule set to fight for them.”
Johnson, who owns a brown belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, is one of the best grapplers in MMA and seems to be interested in a match with Musumeci as well.
After Musumeci issued his polite request, Johnson wrote on social media:
“If we don’t grapple in the circle, I’ll come to Vegas and grapple you in the gym.”
ONE Championship CEO Chatri Sityodtong, too, gave his verbal support for the potential superfight between the two world champions.
During the ONE on Prime Video 2 press conference, Sityodtong said:
“Actually Mikey is being modest. He’s done seven years of Muay Thai. People don’t realize he’s also very proficient in striking - he just happens to be significantly better in jiu-jitsu. Who knows, we may do a mixed [rules] match, we may do a straight grappling match, I think DJ’s game [for it].”
Tiffany Teo applauds Stamp Fairtex for her improved grappling
While Tiffany Teo shared his thoughts on a possible superfight between Musumeci and Johnson, she also has her eyes on the mixed-rules bout between Stamp Fairtex and Anissa Meksen.
Stamp and Meksen will face each other at ONE on Prime Video 6 at the Impact Arena in Bangkok on January 13.
Tiffany Teo was impressed with how Stamp, a natural striker, was able to use her improved grappling against Jihin Radzuan to take the unanimous decision win at ONE on Prime Video 2.
In another interview with ONE Championship, Tiffany Teo said:
“Definitely she’s improved her grappling from her first bout to now. You could see that she’s more proficient and more aware of the dangers that she’s in, like when she was caught in that kneebar. She’s also aware of what submissions are open and she’s going for it. But I feel like as of now, I don’t see her grappling as a threat in her game yet."
Stamp, a former ONE atomweight Muay Thai and kickboxing world champion, was able to control Jihin on the ground. She even slapped in a tight rear-naked choke that had the crowd in an uproar.