Cleber Sousa has supreme confidence in his preparations for trilogy match with Mikey Musumeci

At ONE on Prime Video 2, submission grappling wizard Cleber Sousa will make his ONE Championship debut.

Thrust right into the thick of it, Sousa will have the opportunity to make history in his first appearance as he faces five-time IBJJF world champion Mikey ‘Darth Rigatoni’ Musumeci for the inaugural ONE flyweight submission grappling world championship.

While ‘Clandestino’ will be making his ONE Championship debut, Sousa is more than accomplished in the world of Brazilian jiu-jitsu. As a multi-time IBJJF world champion himself, Sousa has collected 86 career wins with an impressive 41 via submission. Not to mention that the Brazilian already holds a victory over Mikey Musumeci when the two met in 2017.

All things considered, Cleber Sousa is walking into this weekend’s event with a lot of confidence. While speaking at the ONE on Prime Video 2 press conference, ‘Clandestino’ shared his goal of finishing Musumeci within the first five minutes of their highly anticipated meeting.

“My confidence comes from my training. I have been training with my partners in Sau Paulo. I trust my training partners and my work to get me ready [for this fight] and eventually get the finish within five minutes.”

---

Winning the ONE submission grappling world championship would be the “pinnacle” of Cleber Sousa’s career

For Cleber Sousa, becoming a ONE world champion would be the pinnacle of his Brazilian jiu-jitsu career thus far. Growing up in unsavory circumstances, becoming a champion in the biggest global combat sports organization in the world would be the ultimate prize and a genuine life-changing moment for the Brazilian.

Asked by ONE Championship in a recent interview what it would mean for him to become the promotion’s first submission grappling titleholder, Cleber Sousa said:

“[It] would undoubtedly be the pinnacle of my career and would change my professional and personal life.”

Sousa’s opponent Mikey Musumeci recently discussed their history of competing against one another while speaking to the promotion. Musumeci says that he learned a lot from the loss and is grateful that the two were able to help one another grow through competition.

“It helped me a lot, that loss, and I’m grateful for it. I’m grateful for Cleber. I competed with him the next month, and then I won that match, and I went up to him and I said, ‘Hey, thank you for the match the month before. You beat me, then I beat you now, we’re both helping each other improve.”