"I'm a more complete athlete" - Gabriel Sousa says he's leveled up since first encounter vs Mikey Musumeci

ONE Championship fans will get to witness a potential favorite for submission grappling bout of the year at ONE 167 on June 7 as Gabriel Sousa makes his promotional debut against flyweight submission grappling world champion Mikey Musumeci.

Nearly three years since their first matchup, in which he won via submission, the Brazilian grappling superstar believes he has further upgraded his skillset to ensure he gets his hand raised against his rival inside the Impact Arena in Bangkok, Thailand.

Gabriel Sousa told ONE Championship:

"I'm sure he must have trained a lot, watched my fights a lot, and reviewed our fight, but I believe I'm a totally different grappler than when we fought in 2021. I think I'm a more complete athlete today and that will count for a lot."

For his part, Musumeci has been on a roll since losing to Sousa, claiming nine wins overall, and is still undefeated through six ONE Championship bouts thanks to explosive athleticism that led to him having four submission finishes.

In Sousa's mind though, that will not be a problem for him to handle as he has the distinction of being the only man to ever defeat Musumeci via submission.

---

Gabriel Sousa showcases technique in preparation for Mikey Musumeci rematch

With their bantamweight submission grappling bout at ONE 167 being Sousa's promotional debut, he is pulling out all the stops in training camp to ensure that he comes out with another victory over 'Darth Rigatoni'.

Posting a video of him doing drills via Instagram, here's what Sousa said:

"Foot work is very important while trying to do outside pass! ✌🏻moving side to side one of my favorite ways to warmup #ctrlsquad"

ONE 167 will air live and for free to all Prime Video subscribers in the United States and Canada.