"He brought out a part of me" - Mikey Musumeci says Gabriel Sousa's provocations made him recall being bullied as a kid

After vindicating himself on the world stage this past Friday, BJJ savant Mikey Musumeci unfolded the reason behind his emotional victory against long-time rival Gabriel Sousa.

The flyweight submission grappling world champion has been in the competitive scene long enough to know the difference between friend and foe.

Throughout the course of his career, Musumeci has unfortunately come across some serious bullies who liked to prey and make fun of the smaller guys.

So when Sousa made disrepectful and provoking comments towards Musumeci in the buildup to their rematch, 'Darth Rigatoni' made sure his jiu-jitsu did all the taking.

"It was just more about me finally shutting him up," he said at the ONE 167 post-event conference last Friday.

"The day before, he did this to me trying to make me flinch, he was like walking chest out with me. And he brought out a part of me from when I was a kid. I'm not really a tough guy, and my whole life competing with these alpha macho people. They always would act like [that]. I like action. So it just brought out me as a kid, always dealing with this type of people."

Musumeci continued to add:

"Even the people that are like me, they almost stopped competing. I have a lot of friends who stopped competing, because of that type of personality, because we feel like we don't belong in the competition scene because of those people."

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Mikey Musumeci thanks IBJJF Hall of Famer Rubens 'Cobrinha' Charles for helping him level up his jiu-jitsu game

Mikey Musumeci thanked Brazilian jiu-jitsu legend Rubens 'Cobrinha' Charles for challenging him in ways he didn't think possible.

The former multiple-time featherweight jiu-jitsu champion has won nearly every accolade in the sport before opening his own Cobrinha Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Academy in Los Angeles.

And over the course of seven months, Musumeci had the opportunity to pick his brain and practice some of the sneakiest submission attacks from guard position, including the infamous calf slicer.

Thanking his professor on Instagram, 'Darth Rigatoni' wrote the following message:

"I want to thank my professor @cobrinhacharles for bringing my jiu jitsu to another level. I am so grateful for much he has helped me."

The replay of ONE 167 is available free on demand for Prime Video subscribers in the United States and Canada.