"You're cheating, it's simple as that" - Mikey Musumeci has no respect for athletes who promote steroid usage
Mikey Musumeci has never shifted away from his core beliefs as one of the best jiu-jitsu competitors in the world. The ONE flyweight submission grappling world champion is proud to represent his sport on the highest stage possible.
However, there is one side to the pursuit that he has dedicated his life to that Musumeci has always been very outspoken on.
Drug testing isn't as cemented in the history of grappling as it is with other sports and that makes it a big problem.
'Darth Rigatoni' has always looked to champion others who, like him, pride themselves on being clean athletes who want to progress in the sport.
He spoke about this in a recent interview with ONE Championship, where he continued to fight against the mentality that the option is to take performance-enhancing drugs or be the odd one out:
"So what does that tell you guys? That mindset of 'everyone's on it, you can do it too' is wrong. You're cheating. It's simple as that. So that's something I really hope in my lifetime I'm able to get to support the change."
This was a key point for Mikey Musumeci ahead of ONE 168
The next time that fans see Mikey Musumeci in action will be one of the best examples of this standpoint that he has taken.
He will be moving up several weight classes to challenge lightweight submission grappling world champion Kade Ruotolo in a true grappling superfight.
On top of that, both Mikey and Kade are two of the most outspoken competitors about keeping submission grappling drug-free.
Both men have proven that you can make it to the top without cheating and cutting corners, and they now have the opportunity to embody that in a historic clash at the Ball Arena on September 6.
Tickets for ONE 168: Denver are available via Ticketmaster.