Cleber Sousa says he and Mikey Musumeci are different fighters heading into third fight

In 2017, Cleber Sousa and Mikey Musumeci met on two separate occasions just one month apart. Both fighters have evolved over the years. Now, fate has brought them together once again on the biggest combat sports stage in the world.

At ONE on Prime Video 2, Sousa will make his ONE debut against ‘Darth Rigatoni’ in a submission grappling contest to crown the promotion’s first-ever ONE flyweight submission grappling world champion. Ahead of their highly anticipated third meeting, Cleber Sousa shared his thoughts on the match-up during his appearance at the ONE on Prime Video 2 press conference:

“This time around, we’ll fight in no-gi. I truly feel prepared. I feel we are much more experienced than before and I truly trained myself to be the best [version] of myself, to display my abilities in the circle and get the victory.”

‘Clandestino’ first met Musumeci at the 2017 IBJFF Pan American Championship, earning a decision victory after time expired with the score tied. A month later, the two met at the 2017 Abu Dhabi World Pro. This time, Musumeci would get the better of Sousa, earning a narrow victory on points.

Watch the One on Prime Video 2 press conference below:

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For Cleber Sousa’s opponent Mikey Musumeci, grappling is just a mathematical equation

Submission grappling is the art of moves and countermoves. Every decision you make can lead to a sudden victory or certain doom. For true masters of the art form, manipulating your opponent, like a game of chess, is where success is found. For submission grappling superstar Mikey Musumeci, it’s like a math equation.

Speaking to ONE Championship ahead of his world title contest with Cleber Sousa on US primetime, ‘Darth Rigatoni’ likened the discipline to a math problem:

“It's literally just a math problem to me. Competing in jiu-jitsu is different from training because it really exposes you, do you have the answer or not? If you do, you win, if you don't, you lose."

Musumeci elaborated on his thoughts:

“And then if you lose, that's okay, you can compete again the next week, you know. You just fix your mistake and go back. You can't have too big of an ego and make an excuse. If you made a mistake, you have to fix it. So I use these competitions to just fix any mistakes that I'm making.”