Mikey Musumeci says he ‘finally broke out of that frozen feeling’ in most recent fight

Mikey Musumeci, by all accounts, is one of the coldest grapplers once he’s locked in the circle against any opponent ONE Championship threw his way.

The reigning ONE flyweight submission grappling world champion is a Brazilian jiu-jitsu master who has a thousand ways of forcing his opponents to tap to either chokes or joint locks.

Although he looked as calm as possible on the outside, Musumeci revealed that he feels the exact opposite inside.

In an interview with ONE Championship, ‘Darth Rigatoni’ revealed that he was still feeling nervous until the start of his world title defense against Osamah Almarwai at ONE Fight Night 10 this past May.

Despite feeling anxious at the start of the contest, Musumeci said he ultimately got over his nerves for the submission finish.

Musumeci said:

“It took me about four matches to adjust to competing in ONE. You know, I was still frozen in my Osama fight until the end. The end was when I started fighting more like Mikey, like in the gym, so I finally broke out of that frozen feeling at the end of my fourth fight.”

The American star was a master on the mats once he locked up Almarwai, an IBJJF world champion, but it wasn’t until he stopped chasing a heel hook and transitioned into a rear-naked choke that Musumeci got the tap.

Musumeci’s bout against Almarwai had a bit more importance than his previous three outings since ONE Fight Night 10 was ONE Championship’s first on-site card in the United States.

Now that he’s gotten over that icy feeling during fights, Musumeci will be in a better head space when he defends his throne against ONE strawweight world champion Jarred Brooks at ONE Fight Night 13.

Musumeci’s third world title defense goes down this Friday, US primetime, at the iconic Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok. The entire ONE Fight Night 13 card is available live and free to all Prime Video subscribers in North America.