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Mikey Musumeci has steadily embraced his inner Sith Lord. The reigning ONE flyweight submission grappling world champion is arguably the most mild-mannered man in combat sports, but Musumeci still hides a persona he would only unleash when he's fully riled up.
In an interview with Ariel Helwani at The MMA Hour, Musumeci said he has a disdain for people who bully others and seems to have made it a personal mission to put such individuals in their place.
Mikey Musumeci pointed out that bullies have riled him up even before he started breaking limbs, and it's these kinds of people who often push him to his limits.
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He said:
"I'm a bully to the people who I feel bully me. Some people don't like to show that, but how do you stop a bully from being a bully? You f****** put them in their place. I'm a nerdy kid, I look very nerdy, but I'm f****** more alpha and macho than all these guys. I just don't have to show it."
Fans got a major glimpse of 'Darth Rigatoni's' dark side after he unleashed an emotional promo following his submission win over Gabriel Sousa at ONE 167 earlier this month.
Musumeci said Sousa had been taunting him for the past three years after the Brazilian star submitted him in their previous matchup at Who's Number One in 2021.
That loss remained Mikey Musumeci's last defeat before he tore through the competition in ONE Championship.
Mikey Musumeci admits feeling sorry for verbal outburst at ONE 167
Although he let all his frustrations and emotions go out, Mikey Musmeci admitted he felt sorry for the outburst he had at ONE 167.
Musumeci seemed uncharacteristic during his post-fight interview with ONE Championship commentator Mitch Chilson and promptly apologized during the card's post-event press conference.
"First of all, I want to apologize for how emotional I was. It’s not like me to be that extremely emotional, and I take accountability for that, and I’m constantly trying to learn and grow as a person, right? So I had a lot of emotions and I just let it out, right? So sorry guys about that."
