Mikey Musumeci believes ONE’s submission grappling rules make the sport more enjoyable for MMA fans

Mikey Musumeci may be one of the top grapplers in the world, but he is aware of the fact that it’s not a sport that everyone enjoys as much as he does.

‘Darth Rigatoni’ is set to defend the ONE flyweight submission grappling world title against Osamah Almarwai at ONE Fight Night 10 on Friday, May 5. The event will be held inside the sold-out 1stBank Center in Colorado.

ONE Championship’s submission grappling division employs different rules compared to traditional grappling bouts. It aims to make it simpler to understand and gives more points to the more assertive competitor.

Ahead of his match with Osamah Almarwai, Mikey Musumeci was asked by Tom Taylor of the South China Morning Post what he thinks about the promotion’s take on grappling.

The 26-year-old replied:

“Jiu-jitsu isn’t that exciting. It is for us because we love jiu-jitsu, but for the typical viewer like the MMA fan, like these people they don’t really know what’s going on so when down in Florida they’re like why are they not punching? Like what’s going on? ... I think that what ONE is trying to do is to make it even with someone that isn’t exciting, they can make the format still work where the match could be watchable for MMA people and Muay Thai people.”

Mikey Musumeci will aim for another exciting performance this Friday, especially since it will be ONE Championship’s first event in the United States.

Meanwhile, Fellow BJJ world champion Osamah Almarwai will certainly look to make a good impression in his promotional debut, and there’s no louder statement than taking out Musumeci.

All the action from ONE Fight Night 10 will be broadcast live and for free on Prime Video for fans in North America with an active Amazon subscription.