How big will a grappling match between Mikey Musumeci and Demetrious Johnson be?

After winning the inaugural ONE flyweight submission grappling world title at ONE on Prime Video 2, newly crowned king Mikey Musumeci called Demetrious Johnson out in the nicest, most polite callout ever:

"We can make history together, you know. I know me and him [Johnson] can bring the MMA and jiu-jitsu fans together. And it would be just a historic, incredible event. It will be an honor to step on the mats with him. It's not a callout - it's just a respectful request to roll [laughs]."

"A respectful request to roll." Those words pretty much sum up everything you need to know about the mild-mannered 'Darth Rigatoni'. Expect hundreds of Mikey Musumeci T-shirts with those immortalized words printed on the back.

Kidding aside, this possible submission grappling superfight might become the biggest and most high-profile bout of its kind in the modern era. Granted, many MMA fighters and jiu-jitsu athletes have competed against each other in straight jiu-jitsu matches, but none will have the prestige and exposure ONE Championship can provide.

If this bout happens, the headlines alone will make rounds in the MMA and jiu-jitsu media for weeks. Demetrious Johnson has already responded and it seems like the wheels are already turning:

Musumeci is one of the hottest rising stars in jiu-jitsu today and is fresh off his historic world title win at ONE on Prime Video 2.

Demetrious Johnson, well, there's not a lot we can say about this MMA legend that hasn't been said yet. This man has reached mythological status in the sport and is one of the few fighters considered in the conversation for MMA GOAT status.

Both men have just won ONE Championship gold and are arguably at the top of most MMA and jiu-jitsu topics today. In this article, we'll look into how this match will affect both sports and ONE Championship as a martial arts organization.

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Demetrious Johnson's name alone is enough to make this bout massive

Remember Demetrious Johnson vs. Rodtang Jitmuangnon at ONE X? Prior to that huge mixed-rules superfight, not a lot of people knew that Rodtang even existed. But once the bout was announced, almost every media outlet - from small publications to major industry outfits - were talking about the ONE flyweight Muay Thai world champion's chances against DJ.

Now, this is not a knock on Rodtang's dangerous skills and star power. It's just that Muay Thai is not much of a mainstream sport compared to MMA, especially outside Asia. We can hazard a guess that the mixed-rules bout alone singlehandedly brought most of the fan interest to ONE X.

Having an MMA household name like Demetrious Johnson cross over to another sport to test his might can bring a lot of eyes to the event, regardless of who he is facing.

The hype and intrigue of this match are akin to the massive hype that surrounded Conor McGregor's foray into boxing. Nearly everyone bet against the Irishman, even making it past the first round - but that didn't stop millions from buying tickets.

If a submission grappling bout between Johnson and Musumeci ever happens, it will have the same level of interest as the DJ-Rodtang bout.

This match will definitely bring submission grappling and jiujitsu further into the mainstream

In the Rodtang bout, DJ's name alone brought the sport of Muay Thai to a mainstream audience and made everyone appreciate how dangerous Thai kickboxers are in striking. Although Rodtang lost, it improved his stock and brought a whole new appreciation to his sport.

Here is, however, a bitter pill to swallow: Mikey Musumeci will likely ragdoll and submit Demetrious Johnson handily. This is not going to be a mixed-rules bout where the ONE flyweight world champion will have a chance to fight Musumeci in MMA in alternating rounds.

Even in fighting a Muay Thai world champion, an accomplished and dangerous MMA striker like Johnson can have a "puncher's chance". One can always have the chance to land a lucky shot. Such is not the case with jiujitsu.

In submission grappling, one does not "accidentally" land a rear-naked choke. Submissions and transitions are set up and calculated four to five steps ahead. It's like a chess match - no one accidentally reaches a checkmate.

Demetrious Johnson is a brownbelt while Musumeci is a blackbelt. Big difference. Musumeci is not just any blackbelt - he's one of the very best in the world.

We can say that MMA fans have about a 5 to 1 ratio against jiujitsu fans. When MMA fans witness one of their biggest heroes get toyed around and submitted by a world-class grappling assassin, this might convert a lot of them into sport jiujitsu.

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This fight will skyrocket ONE Championship into mainstream media once again

With its multi-martial art events, crossover matches and mixed rules bouts, ONE Championship has effectively established its own unique place in the fight business. We can honestly say that no other organization can possibly pull off what ONE has been doing for more than a decade now - at least not as successfully.

We can also honestly say that ONE Championship lucked out tremendously when they signed MMA GOAT Demetrious Johnson to their roster. Not only is DJ bringing more eyes to their organization, he is also open to competing not only against the best in MMA, but in other disciplines as well in non-conventional bouts.

Simply put, Johnson is having a remarkable run in ONE Championship and vice versa. Their partnership is a sure-fire recipe for mainstream success. It's quite a surprise that the two MMA entities haven't crossed paths sooner.