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Brazilian grappling ace Gabriel Sousa is set to make his ONE Championship debut this week against world champion Mikey Musumeci. He is out to make a big splash by fashioning out an impressive victory. In particular, he is eyeing a submission win by way of a choke.
The 27-year-old Fortaleza native shared this in an interview with ONE ahead of his slated bantamweight clash with 'Darth Rigatoni' at ONE 167: Tawanchai vs. Nattawut on June 7 at the Impact Arena in Bangkok, Thailand.
It was attached to a quote card shared by the promotion on Instragram, which has Sousa saying:
"I'm going to pass his guard and choke him out."
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ONE 167 will be a rematch for Gabriel Sousa and Mikey Musumeci, who first met back in September 2021 outside of ONE Championship. In the first encounter, the ZR Team standout came in as a late-replacement opponent and pulled off an upset by submitting the A-1 American grappler.
It is a result that Musumeci, the reigning ONE flyweight submission grappling world champion, is out to redeem himself from, even if it means going a weight division higher for the match.
ONE 167 will be available live and for free in U.S. primetime to North American fans with an active Amazon Prime Video subscription.
Gabriel Sousa admits "sharp" Mikey Musumeci poses problems at ONE 167
Gabriel Sousa is confident that he can handle Mikey Musumeci in their rematch at ONE 167 on June 7 in Thailand but admits 'Darth Rigatoni' remains a serious threat that he has to be ready for.
The Brazilian star beat Musumeci in their first encounter nearly three years ago but he believes his rival has grown as a fighter as much as he has and will be a handful come fight night.
Sousa shared to El Estudio De Leo in an interview:
"We've been watching what he's been doing. I think he probably has like six matches already in ONE Championship and most of his wins come from entanglements. And from there, he gets the legs. He's looked really sharp in his fights here."
Watch the interview below:
After losing to Sousa in September 2021, Musumeci has won nine straight, the last six under ONE Championship.
