“I am so blessed to be part of history” - Mikey Musumeci drops by ONE Championship corporate offices

Mikey Musumeci has fallen in love with the largest martial arts organization in the world. So much so that the 26-year-old Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu ace decided to drop by ONE’s headquarters in Singapore during his spare time.

‘Darth Rigatoni’ beamed with pride as he traversed the halls of ONE’s office – the place that allowed him to showcase his grappling prowess on the global stage. Mikey Musumeci, who brought along his massive world championship belt made of 26.4 pounds of gold, even posed for a photo with ONE Championship president Hua Fung Teh.

The Evolve MMA product documented the whole experience in an Instagram post:

“Was so cool hanging out today with president of ONE Championship Hua Fung Teh. I am so blessed to be part of history, as ONE championship continues to grow to become the biggest platform for martial arts in the world!”

Furthermore, Mikey Musumeci praised the promotion for advocating the true values of martial arts across all disciplines. A self-confessed introvert, the five-time IBJJF blackbelt world champion also thanked his fellow athletes and ONE staff for welcoming him with open arms.

He added:

“It truly is such an amazing organization with such amazing people. One of the biggest things I have noticed since being an athlete for ONE championship, besides the fact that ONE has the most world champions out of any other organization and in so many different disciplines of martial arts, is that all of the athletes and staff are so cool and respectful: keeping the core of martial arts in everything. It really shows that when the leadership has certain values and ways, they go onto their athletes as well.”

Musumeci’s heartfelt post, meanwhile, garnered a response from ONE Chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong, who wrote:

“Thank you for everything, Mikey! can’t wait to train again together! see you soon!”

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Chatri Sityodtong is in awe of ‘super nerd’ Mikey Musumeci’s skills

In a recent guesting on Ariel Helwani’s The MMA Hour, Chatri Sityodtong discussed a myriad of things about the ever-growing promotion. Among those was his excitement for ONE’s growing submission grappling scene; with Mikey Musumeci serving as its poster boy.

The Thai entrepreneur had this to say about ‘Darth Rigatoni’:

"He [Musumeci] calls himself a super nerd. In real life Mikey is the nicest, kindest guy but he literally is that kid in high school who was the nerd. He’s the kid that does math and academics. He really is that smart, by the way. But he happens to be a killer. I rolled with him, I’m 180 and he’s 135 and he runs through me like water."

Sityodtong, of course, is used to being surrounded by greatness during his time as both an executive and longtime martial arts practitioner. However, he admits that Mikey Musumeci is in a league of his own when it comes to the grappling arts. He continued:

"Obviously he’s a multi-time world champion but the point is that I’ve never seen anything like it. I’ve rolled with many black belts and this guy is next-level. We have a lot of guys who are like that but I can’t predict who’s going to be the star."