"I'm a whole f*****g different person" - Mikey Musumeci says he and Gabriel Sousa have gotten much better since first encounter

Mikey Musumeci is expecting things to be very different as he comes into a long awaited rematch at ONE 167.

'Darth Rigatoni' has put together an incredible run since signing with ONE Championship and becoming the ONE flyweight submission grappling champion.

Throughout this entire period, there has been one opponent that the elite grappler has been hoping to bring into the fold so that he can face off with him.

That time has finally arrived on June 7 as he takes on Gabriel Sousa up at bantamweight inside the Impact Arena.

Sousa and Musumeci last met three years ago, where the Brazilian became the last man to not only beat the ONE superstar but submit him also.

Despite the focus on getting revenge, the flyweight king is also aware that things will not be the same this time around because of how much both competitors have changed as both men and grapplers.

Musumeci told ONE Championship that their second encounter will a different contest due to the time since they last met:

"I'm a whole f*****g different person. And he is too. He got way more technical too, of course, probably in that span of time. He worked hard too and got better."

Mikey Musumeci has evolved in front of our very eyes

An elite competitor like Mikey Musumeci knows that he has to keep evolving in order to stay at the very top.

With everything that he has accomplished, it would be easy for the champion to kick back and remain stagnant but that isn't the cloth that he is cut from.

Musumeci has been constantly improving and tweaking his game with every performance under the ONE Championship banner.

As well as his rematch with Sousa being a different contest in terms of what they bring to the table, he will hope to produce a different result.

ONE 167 will air live at US prime time on June 7, free to watch for North American viewers with an active Prime Video subscription.