“Continue on this path of death” - BJJ superstar Mikey Musumeci gearing up for Denver super fight against Kade Ruotolo

Mikey Musumeci isn't showing any signs of slowing down. The reigning ONE flyweight submission grappling world champion is just coming off an impressive bantamweight debut when he submitted old nemesis Gabriel Sousa at ONE 167.

More than a week since their meeting, Musumeci has shifted his focus from Sousa to Kade Ruotolo.

Musumeci will move up two more weight classes and challenge Ruotolo for the ONE lightweight submission grappling world title at ONE 168: Denver on Sept. 6 at Ball Arena in Colorado.

Taking to Instagram, Musumeci said he hasn't stopped training and practically built on the progress he had in his camp for Sousa.

Mikey Musumeci wrote:

"MIKEY X KADE RUOTOLO 3 MONTHS LIGHTWEIGHT TITLE MATCHUP // 3 months until the biggest/hardest match of my career, camp continued since my match last week 😊! Moving up to 145 was fun, so far my best performance yet in no gi!!! This is the past now tho, but what I can take from that experience, the preparation and program that my team @cobrinhacharles @treigning_lab has been doing is working!!!"

He added:

"Now let's continue on this path of death row and move up to face the best person in the world at 170!!! 💀. I promise the next three months I'm going to work my butt off again, and if I'm capable of making history once again, we'll see! That's in God's hands, all I can do is prepare the best of my ability, the rest is with him 😊❤️🙏."

Musumeci, a five-time BJJ world champion, is a perfect 7-0 in his ONE Championship tenure with five of his wins coming via submission.

Ruotolo, meanwhile, also holds a perfect 7-0 record in the promotion but one of his wins came under mixed martial arts when he submitted Blake Cooper at ONE 167.

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Kade Ruotolo cautious of Mikey Musumeci's leg locks

Kade Ruotolo can submit probably 99 percent of the human population, but he's also wary of what Mikey Musumeci would bring to their Denver super fight.

In his interview with ONE flyweight MMA world champion Demetrious Johnson at MightyCast, Ruotolo said he'll be cautious of Musumeci's leg locks once they're locked in the Circle this September.

"He can leg-lock anyone in the world. Someone with those finishing mechanics, if he gets on your legs, he can finish anyone. So it still excites me in a way. I'm ready for it. I'm excited."

Tickets for ONE 168: Denver are available at Ticketmaster.