“I got enough of a challenge in front of me” - Mikey Musumeci not in a rush to challenge Kade Ruotolo’s twin brother Tye

Mikey Musumeci feels that he has enough challenge to overcome for now, and that is to face ONE lightweight submission grappling world champion Kade Ruotolo at ONE 168: Denver on Sept. 6.

While the New Jersey native possesses the most versatile skills in the history of grappling, he knows that he would not be able to take everything at once, which includes challenging Kade's twin brother Tye if he wins the coveted belt.

'Darth Rigatoni' chose to take everything one at a time, as he said to Cageside Press. He would stay on the path but not rush so he would not destroy himself in the process.

Musumeci told Eddie Law in the interview:

"One step at a time. I got enough of a challenge in front of me. But yeah, that's the beauty of it. That's how my mind works."

He added:

"Like, exactly what you said, I'll do something like that I didn't think I could do. Then I'll end up overcoming it and doing it, and then I'll just cut it instantly. Like, okay, that was done. Now I got to do something else, harder. Let's say, you just keep getting on this pathway. But it's kind of destructive eventually, right?"

Check the full interview below:

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Mikey Musumeci is grateful for Chatri Sityodtong's push to evolve himself

Despite being recognized as one of the greatest submission grapplers of all time, Mikey Musumeci knows he did not achieve that on his own. 'Darth Rigatoni believes that it happened because of Chatri Sityodtong, who pushed and enabled him to reach greater heights in his overall career.

Musumeci is ever grateful to the ONE chairman and CEO, and he shared it in the same interview:

"My mentor, Chatri, who's the boss of ONE, I remember he put that in my mind. He always puts a lot of pressure on me to grow as a person. So he really made me believe that, and it made me [reach] another level."

Don't miss how Mikey Musumeci aims to take another tough challenge in Kade Ruotolo in the co-main event of ONE 168: Denver. Tickets are still available via Ticketmaster.