"He's very fake respectful" - Mikey Musumeci explains the root of his pent-up anger toward Gabriel Sousa

ONE 167 was a very different occasion for Mikey Musumeci compared to his previous appearances under the ONE banner. The flyweight submission grappling world champion had a personal score to settle with his opponent, which saw him much more fired up than in the past.

'Darth Rigatoni' had a lot of anger and frustration to vent after submitting Gabriel Sousa and getting his long-awaited revenge. He spoke in his post-fight interview about how Sousa has continued to call him out and taunt him ever since their first meeting three years ago.

Musumeci elaborated even further during an interview on The MMA Hour, where he went back to what initially got to him about Sousa not wanting to move down to flyweight:

"He wanted me to go up a weight class, right? So I didn't want to go up a weight class. I just wanted to do my weight class for the last like, three years. So I messaged him. 'Dude, I'm just doing my own weight class right now, but in the future, if I go up, it'd be an honor to compete with you.' But he's very fake respectful. And then he just kept poking me, poking at me constantly, challenging me to go up to him."

Watch the full interview below:

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Mikey Musumeci is ready to move past it

As Mikey Musumeci said himself after getting his hand raised, Gabriel Sousa had called him up to bantamweight only for the flyweight champion to get revenge in dominant fashion.

Fortunately, the same heated feud will not be the case for his next appearance inside the circle when he continues to move up the weight divisions.

At ONE 168 on September 6, he will face an opponent that he respects and admires greatly in ONE lightweight submission grappling world champion Kade Ruotolo.

The two men will meet in a grappling super fight, live in US prime time from the Ball Arena in Denver.

North American viewers can also watch back all the action from ONE 167 for free with an active Prime Video subscription.