WATCH: Mikey Musumeci nearly rips Gabriel Sousa’s leg in two with nasty calf slicer finish at ONE 167 grudge match
It was a sweet revenge for the reigning ONE flyweight submission grappling world champion Mikey Musumeci against longtime rival Gabriel Sousa last weekend at the ONE 167 card inside the Impact Arena in Bangkok, Thailand.
Musumeci forced Sousa to tap before the halfway mark of the match with a punishing calf slicer technique that ended the match in favor of the former. This winning moment was posted by ONE Championship on Instagram with the caption:
"CALF SLICER 🤯 Mikey Musumeci gets revenge on Gabriel Sousa with a crazy submission! @mikeymusumeci"
It was 'Darth Rigatoni's' seventh straight victory under the world's largest martial arts organization since his promotional debut in April 2022 at ONE 156. Additionally, Musumeci evened his head-to-head record with the Brazilian after he received a submission loss during their first encounter in 2021.
The Evolve MMA representative added Sousa to his victim list, which already included the likes of Masakazu Imanari, Cleber Sousa, Gantumur Bayanduuren, Osamah Almarwai, Jarred Brooks, and Shinya Aoki.
On top of this win, Musumeci has also received an additional $50,000 performance bonus from ONE Chairman and CEO, Chatri Sityodtong.
Mikey Musumeci to challenge Kade Ruotolo next for ONE submission grappling world title at ONE 168: Denver
Following this another spectacular win, Musumeci will now shift his focus to his next booked fight on September 6 at ONE 168: Denver, where he challenges the reigning ONE lightweight submission grappling world champion Kade Ruotolo in an attempt to make history and become the first-ever two-division submission grappling world champion in ONE Championship.
Musumeci and Ruotolo even had their moment inside the Circle after Mitch Chilson invited the latter to share the spotlight with the former. Both showed tremendous respect for each other during the post-fight interview.
North American viewers with an active Prime Video subscription can rewatch all the action from ONE 167 via the free event replay.