Mikey Musumeci uses loud music to hone jiu-jitsu skills: “I cannot train in silence”

ONE flyweight submission grappling world champion Mikey Musumeci has been quite vocal about his struggles with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

Among the many challenges that the neurodevelopmental disorder brings is the feeling of constant restlessness, which plagues Musumeci on a daily basis.

As such, ‘Darth Rigatoni’ recently opened up about his inability to train in complete silence. In an interview with ONE Championship, the 27-year-old BJJ maven shared how he uses music to divert ADHD symptoms so he can focus on perfecting his craft:

“I cannot train in silence. That’s the worst thing in the world, when you just hear the mats and people breathing. I can’t do it. I don’t have the attention span.”

Apart from being a pizza and pasta connoisseur, it turns out that Mikey Musumeci is also quite the audiophile.

The Evolve MMA superstar listens to multiple musical genres during training and also uses tunes to calm his nerves whenever he walks into arenas for his submission grappling bouts.

Musumeci added:

“Music brings you into a zone of subconscious, right? Music has feeling to it. Music has rhythm to it. And I feel like music helps you go into another place mentally. I really like training with music. It makes it more fun.”

Meanwhile, Musumeci is currently deep in training camp for an iconic opponent who needs no introduction.

The American will look to outgrapple the bigger Shinya Aoki in an openweight submission grappling showdown at ONE Fight Night 15: Tawanchai vs. Superbon on Prime Video.

This star-studded event goes down inside the Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok on October 6. Prime Video subscribers in North America can catch all the action live on US primetime free of charge.