Mikey Musumeci on why grappling Gabriel Sousa and Diogo Reis would ‘mean a lot to him’

ONE flyweight submission grappling world champion Mikey Musumeci is seeking to further shore up his already accomplished jiu-jitsu career by battling fellow BJJ black belts Gabriel Sousa and Diogo Reis under a no-gi setup.

He made this known in a recent interview with ONE Championship, saying that while he has accomplished a lot in competing in gi jiu-jitsu, in no-gi he feels he has yet to establish a solid foothold. It is something he is looking to address by grappling with top no-gi athletes like Sousa and Reis.

‘Darth Rigatoni’ said:

“Those two guys, they mean a lot to me, especially for my career in no-gi. You know, my career in gi, it speaks for itself. I won every title. I beat the top people. In the gi, my credibility is complete.”

In gi, a traditional uniform – consisting of a coat and pants that are made of thick cotton – is required. The uniform serves a purpose apart from clothing as it can be used to execute techniques like holding opponents, do Judo throws, and submission.

No gi jiu-jitsu does not require any uniform.

While gi and no gi share similarities in techniques, they are different when it comes to tactics, with the latter relying more on wrestling-based grips as well as body mechanics and hand positioning, among others, for one to win.

Sousa is widely regarded as one of the main light-featherweight athletes of his generation, who has won in many respected tournaments like the International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation’s (IBJJF) World, Pan and European Open Championships.

Reis, meanwhile, has steadily climbed the ranks to become one of the top BJJ athletes in the world. In 2022, he became the Abu Dhabi Combat Club (ADCC) World Submission Fighting champion.

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Mikey Musumeci happy to see no-gi transition doing well

Two years after making the decision to transition to competitive no-gi, Mikey Musumeci said he is happy to report that the process has been relatively smooth even if it has required a lot of effort from him.

The 27-year-old American grappling ace has made significant inroads in his no-gi journey, including claiming the inaugural ONE flyweight submission grappling world title in October 2022.

In an interview with ONE Championship earlier this year, Mikey Musumeci shared how his transition to no-gi been like, saying:

“My technical ability in finishing submissions, that’s what I’ve been working so hard for in no-gi once I made the transition. 2021 was like my first year competing in no gi.”

He added:

“So it’s been about two years now that I’ve been working really hard in no-gi, and yeah, it’s a lot different than the gi because you have to have perfect finishing mechanics to finish people.”

Since becoming ONE flyweight submission grappling world champion, Mikey Musumeci has had three successful title defenses, the last one back in August in a submission grappling super fight against ONE strawweight MMA world champion Jarred Brooks.