“It’s so interesting and awesome” - Mikey Musumeci on getting along with other ONE fighters from different sports

While Mikey Musumeci has plenty of experience competing among a crowd of jiu-jitsu aficionados, fighting for ONE Championship has given him the experience of sharing a cage with athletes of multiple disciplines.

After the fight, the ONE flyweight grappling world champion spoke to the South China Morning Post about the experience of competing for ONE:

It’s so interesting and awesome. We’re all from different sports but we’re all like together. It was so much fun. It was like we were kids in preschool and kindergarten playing games.

It’s easy to see why there would be such a lack of vitriol between athletes backstage at ONE when most of them have no competitive interest in each other. ONE Championship has four sports (MMA, Muay Thai, kickboxing, grappling) under their banner, and most of their events promote at least one fight in each sport.

That could certainly change if more fighters cross over between sports to give themselves more challenges. During the ONE Fight Night 6 on Prime Video broadcast, one such proposition was for Mikey Musumeci to fight flyweight MMA champion Demetrious Johnson, as Johnson was working in commentary for the event.

In addition, Muay Thai world champion Rodtang Jitmuangnon fought in kickboxing at the event, and typical MMA combatant Stamp Fairtex fought in kickboxing as well at ONE Fight Night 6.

What Mikey Musumeci would change if he fought Gantumur Bayanduuren again

Mikey Musumeci’s involvement in ONE Fight Night 6 capitulated in a world title defense against Mongolian sambo specialist Gantumur Bayanduuren.

Musumeci dominated the fight to win by unanimous decision, trashing the leg of Bayanduuren through numerous leg locks.

Mikey Musumeci spoke to the media at the ONE Fight Night 6 post-fight press conference about the fight and what he would have done differently to get Bayanduuren out of there:

I'll just put him to sleep. I looked at my corner. I heard them say two minutes. And then I just let go of the submission. And I took him. I almost calf-sliced him, I think. And then I took his back. And I should have just done that from the beginning. I could have definitely just put him to sleep.

Musumeci certainly can’t be faulted for thinking that the vicious leg locks from a grappling world champion would be enough to get the tap, but in hindsight, a choke may have removed the choice to quit from a resilient opponent.

The win was Mikey Musumeci’s first title defense of a belt that he won last September at ONE Fight Night 2 against Cleber Sousa. He was ONE Championship’s first submission grappling world champion, and doesn’t look to be going anywhere any time soon.