Mikey Musumeci to defend grappling belt against Sayan Khertek in Bangkok at ONE on Prime Video 6

Submission grappling sensation Mikey Musumeci will make his return to the circle in the new year at ONE on Prime Video 6.

Defending his newly won flyweight submission grappling world championship, ‘Darth Rigatoni’ will put the 26.4 pounds of gold on the line against Sambo world champion Sayan Khertek. The submission grappling showdown goes down live on January 13 at the Impact Arena in Bangkok.

The event is scheduled to be headlined by the highly anticipated featherweight kickboxing championship match between defending champion Superbon Singha Mawynn and No.1-ranked contender Chingiz Allazov.

Debuting at ONE 156 in April, Mikey Musumeci scored his first win inside the circle with an impressive submission over Japanese legend Masakazu Imanari. Five months later, ‘Darth Rigatoni’ returned to capture the first-ever ONE submission grappling world title defeating familiar foe Cleber ‘Clandestino’ Sousa.

Making his ONE debut, Sayan Khertek is a two-time Sambo world champion, capturing the title in 2017 and 2022. He will enter the circle intent on upsetting Musumeci and scoring a win for Sambo athletes, who are currently 0-3 against Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioners under the ONE Championship banner.

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Mikey Musumeci is thankful for the exposure ONE Championship has given BJJ

Following his historic world title win at ONE on Prime Video 2, Mikey Musumeci shared his gratitude toward ONE CEO and founder Chatri Sityodtong for giving the world’s best Brazilian jiu-jitsu athletes, himself included, a platform to showcase their skills and make a living doing what they love:

"I remember telling all my friends [that] all five times that I won [in] black belt [during] worlds was still like 10% of the publicity and recognition you get for winning one match in ONE. So it just tells you how big this platform is, and what they're doing for the athletes.”

'Darth Rigatoni' continued:

“You know, we all work so hard and train so hard. So all these athletes deserve this recognition for how hard they train. And ONE is giving us a platform that we deserve. I'm just so thankful to be on this platform, and I thank Chatri so much for this opportunity.”

Fellow submission grappling stars Kade and Tye Ruotolo and Danielle Kelly all earned big wins inside the circle to close out 2022. Are you excited to see Mikey Musumeci kick off the new year with his first ONE world title defense?