“I saw Musumeci's no-gi superiority” - Buchecha praises Mikey Musumeci’s grappling

Marcus Buchecha couldn’t contain his excitement after watching BJJ prodigy Mikey Musumeci capture his first world title at ONE on Prime Video 2.

On September 30, Mikey ‘Darth Rigatoni’ Musumeci and Cleber ‘Clandestino’ Sousa performed 10 minutes of high-intensity grappling worthy of study from jiu-jitsu practitioners all across the globe. Their fight was so technical to the point that if you aren’t well-versed in jiu-jitsu, it’s easy to overlook the different facets and nuances they brought to the table.

The 26-year-old stalwart especially stood out by preventing Sousa from getting past his guard while going on the attack. According to ONE, only two men have successfully passed his guard, which goes to prove how well he’s mastered the sport in a no-gi environment.

Impressed by 'Darth Rigatoni's performance, 17-time BJJ world champion Marcus 'Buchecha' Almeida explained why he thought the New Jersey native deserved the belt.

He told ONE Championship:

“I also watched Mikey Musumeci's fight against Cleber Clandestino [Sousa]. It was a very technical fight, but I saw Musumeci's no-gi superiority. He fights very well without the gi, and his body is well adapted to his positions and his style. It was a show of technique, both Mikey playing guard and Clandestino trying to pass the guard. It was a jiu-jitsu show. But like I said, I think Mikey was a little superior because he came closer to finishing the fight. With the win, he won ONE's first grappling belt.”

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Mikey Musumeci wants to add a more competitive edge to submission grappling to include other styles

It’s no secret that Mikey Musumeci wants a submission grappling match with MMA icon Demetrious ‘Mighty Mouse’ Johnson.

As part of his master plan to add a bit of a competitive edge to grappling matches, the Italian-American superstar wants to bring the art of wrestling and jiu-jitsu together under one roof. He also heralded an interest in competing with elite sambo practitioners in his latest Instagram video. 'Darth Rigatoni' said:

“There’s a funny quote from Khabib [Nurmagomedov]. He said, ‘If sambo was easy, it’d be called jiu-jitsu.’ So let’s have the sambo guys compete with the jiu-jitsu people. Let me fight the top world champion of my weight class in sambo, and let’s see which is superior in the submission grappling format.”

It’s only a matter of time before someone like Johnson or a sambo specialist like Khabib comes knocking on his door.