“It keeps you motivated” - Mikey Musumeci says camaraderie with training partners pushes him to get better at Muay Thai

Mikey Musumeci is that person who gives it his all when he falls in love with an art form, yet he also knows that there are some days when the desire just isn’t there.

The reigning ONE flyweight submission grappling world champion has rekindled his love for Muay Thai, and he revealed that he sometimes gets that itch to just take the day off.

Musumeci said that while there are times he would like to slack off, just the idea of seeing his training partners go to the gym day in and day out keeps him motivated to wear the gloves and hit the bags.

He told ONE Championship in an interview:

“Everyone is showing up every day to train, so why are you not? You should be there also, so it makes you motivated.”

Watching his Muay Thai training partners go at it each day also motivated Musumeci to train harder in BJJ, a sport that he’s already at the highest level possible.

Musumeci was a five-time BJJ world champion before he signed with ONE Championship. After submitting Japanese legend Masakazu Imanari in his promotional debut, ‘Darth Rigatoni’ dominated Cleber Sousa for the inaugural ONE flyweight submission grappling world title.

He’s since defended the strap three times against Gantumur Bayanduuren, IBJJF world champion Osamah Almarwai, and ONE strawweight MMA world champion Jarred Brooks.

Musumeci is also coming off a poetic submission win over Japanese legend and former ONE lightweight MMA world champion Shinya Aoki in their openweight submission grappling match at ONE Fight Night 15 this October.

There are no official announcements yet of when Musumeci will defend his belt, but the American grappling star revealed on social media that he recently signed the contract for what he said was one of the most important matches of this generation.