Mikey Musumeci says mental game in jiu-jitsu means overcoming physical challenges: “It doesn't matter how you feel”

Reigning and undisputed ONE flyweight submission grappling world champion ‘Darth Rigatoni’ Mikey Musumeci stresses the importance of mental fortitude in jiu-jitsu, but says it’s not about going into his matches in the best frame of mind.

Musumeci says it’s about powering through mental challenges by pushing yourself physically that will get the job done at the end of the day. And that’s exactly what Musumeci did in his latest victory.

Musumeci battled former ONE lightweight MMA world champion ‘Tobikan Judan’ Shinya Aoki in an openweight submission grappling match at ONE Fight Night 15: Le vs. Freymanov on Prime Video, which took place live at the iconic Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand on October 7.

‘Darth Rigatoni’ ended up winning via ‘Aoki Lock’, using the Japanese legend’s own submission move against him. But that wasn’t the most impressive achievement. What’s more impressive is the fact that Musumeci was actually battling a bout of food poisoning, but still decided to push through with the match.

Speaking in the ONE Fight Night 15 post-fight interviews, Musumeci talked about how he powered himself through the ordeal.

‘Darth Rigatoni’ said:

“I didn’t have that much energy. But I overcame it. I just put it in my mind that it doesn't matter how you feel. This is what I said in my post-fight interview. Everyone asked me, ‘How do you perform when you have so much stress and so much pressure?’ What I tell them is, you don't have to mentally be amazing. You don't have to be perfect in your mind. So many people think in their minds that they have to feel the best they feel. No, you don’t.

“No matter how your body feels, you have to keep going. You’ll function when you don’t feel well. We all have the ability to do that. So that takes mental strength to shut off your mind when it tells you to rest and you don’t feel well.”

See the full interview below:

Fans in the United States and Canada can catch all the action of Musumeci vs. Aoki and the rest of the stacked ONE Fight Night 15 card via replay on Amazon Prime Video.