ONE Championship
KEY POINTS
- Mikey Musumeci has six “holy grail sequences” that he plans to unleash
- “I want to hit at least one of these in the next six [matches],” Musumeci saiys
- Osamah Almarwai’s pedigree makes him no joking matter for Musumeci’s defense
ONE Championship’s thrust of being the premier combat sports hub in the world has them creating a dedicated grappling division where high-level talent can strut their stuff to an international audience and Mikey Musumeci wants to take full advantage of it.
The inaugural ONE flyweight submission grappling champion is slated to defend his belt against Osamah Almarwai of Yemen at the promotion’s first-ever card in the United States with ONE Fight Night 10 and he has a couple of tricks up his sleeves.
“How I am in training, I come up with these really cool sequences, and I store them in my mind… I would say six holy grail sequences in my mind that I have on standby. And I just want to hit one of these six, especially in this match,” Musumeci said.
“I probably have five or six things right now that are like that in my mind that I want to hit. And in my next six matches, I want to hit at least one of these in the next six, each one to get the validation.”
While Musumeci understandably did not reveal what these moves were, it does give fans an incentive to watch his bout just to see what his so-called “holy grail sequences” are.
Despite looking like a stereotypical nerdy guy, Musumeci is a devastating force in the world of submission grappling.
He has faced the who’s who of talent outside of ONE Championship with names like Bruno Malfacine, Joao Gabriel Sousa and Estevan Martinez.
With the Southeast Asian promotion, Musumeci would face even more high-level talent like the legendary Masakazu Imanari, Cleber Souza and Bayanduuren Gantumur.
Just like the innovator of the Imanari roll, Musumeci has created a move of his own called the Mikey Lock–his own variation of the feared heel hook.
Musumeci did a breakdown of it with BJJ Fanatics’ Bernardo Faria and certainly looks to be a devastating move all on its own as he has the ability to break an opponent’s ankle and knee either at the same time or separately.
Against Almarwai though, “Darth Rigatoni” does not expect himself to be so greedy in searching for the Mikey Lock.
“I immediately want to get the move going, and sometimes, I feel like I only have one thing I’m working and I want to get validation for it. This time, I have six, so it’s going to make me definitely less stubborn about doing one move,” Musumeci explained.
“I think that this time, having five or six things on my mind that I want to work on, I think that’s going to keep me open to whatever happens. And I won’t be stubborn on one thing. So I see myself finishing this match much more efficiently than having to bank on doing one thing.”
As ONE Championship continues to build its stable of grapplers, Musumeci also opened up on his decision to specifically request upper management to take have a bout against Almarwai.
“I don’t call anyone out. He’s the current no-gi world champion. So he deserves to match with me, and he deserves to be competing for the title in ONE Championship,” he stated.
The Yemeni submission grappler is currently ranked as the No. 1 No-Gi black belt Rooster weight division and also won the gold medal in the 57.5-kilogram division of the 2022 World No-Gi Championship.
Add in the fact that he also trains with the famed Kade and Tye Ruotolo brothers, the former being the current ONE lightweight submission grappling champ, and it all combines to make Almarwai a dangerous opponent for Musumeci.
ONE Fight Night 10 happens live at the 1stBank Center in Denver, Colorado on May 5.
ONE Championship
