“You nerds finally have a king” - Chael Sonnen believes Mikey Musumeci is earning respect for nerds around the world

Former fighter-turned-analyst Chael Sonnen feels that nerds have found their leader in submission grappling savant Mikey Musumeci.

Musumeci, a self-proclaimed nerd, recently scored the biggest win of his career when he beat rival Cleber Sousa to become the inaugural ONE flyweight submission grappling world champion at ONE on Prime Video 2 this past weekend.

Speaking on his YouTube channel, Sonnen said Musumeci is the perfect representation for those who’ve lived a life full of wonder, video games, books, and fantasy.

Chael Sonnen said:

"The nerds need a leader, for sure, well I feel like you’ve got one. The guy who goes out there and goes non-stop, only eats pizza and pasta, and puts on his glasses right after the match. I feel like you nerds finally have a king. And I don’t know who’s gonna beat him.”

Catch the full interview below:

Musumeci will never fill the mold of the jock archetype and he’s perfectly adept at cooking and indulging in pizza and pasta.

His appearance and self-demeanor, however, hides a persona that only Musumeci himself knows. ‘Darth Rigatoni’ is among the greatest submission grapplers of his generation and his victory over Sousa at the Singapore Indoor Stadium shows just how dangerous he is in his craft.

Gone was Mikey Musumeci’s sunny disposition and replacing it was a menacing scowl that Sousa surely felt during their 10-minute match. The American grappler was aggressive in searching for his submissions, and this left ‘Clandestino’ dumbfounded on how to counter his rival.

In the end, it was Musumeci’s overall aggression that earned him the unanimous decision win that broke his 1-1 stalemate with Sousa that stood since 2017.

Musumeci won five Brazilian jiu-jitsu world titles before joining ONE Championship and he reached the pinnacle of his career when he captured the ONE flyweight submission grappling world championship.

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Mikey Musumeci honored to fight for ONE’s inaugural submission grappling world title

Mikey Musumeci has always been a fixture in the submission grappling scene and his absence in the 2022 ADCC World Championship was big news to the BJJ community.

Musumeci was forced to pull out of the annual grappling competition after having emergency surgery on his appendix this past May.

While he wasn’t able to compete in the 2022 ADCC tournament, winning the ONE flyweight submission grappling world title more than made up for his absence.

In his post-fight press conference after ONE on Prime Video 2, Musumeci said that it was an honor to compete and claim ONE’s inaugural submission grappling world championship.

“I am the first champion of ONE, ever, in submission grappling. There are going to be so many amazing champions, but this is the beginning of it. Me and Cleber put on an amazing, exciting match for everyone. And we made history together. So it was an honor to be [in] the first [world title] match in this growing sport of jiu-jitsu and submission grappling,” Mikey Musumeci.