Mikey Musumeci emerges as the fan-favorite over Kade Ruotolo on Instagram fan poll ahead of ONE 168

Current ONE flyweight submission grappling world champion Mikey Musumeci will have an added motivation heading into his challenge of ONE lightweight submission grappling world champion Kade Ruotolo at ONE 168: Denver, as fans voted him the favorite to come out as the victor.

The world's largest martial arts organization recently had a poll on an Instagram story where they let fans pick who they think will win between Musumeci and Ruotolo, and they posted the result with the caption:

"The people have SPOKEN 😳 Agree with the picks? @ruotolobrothersjiujitsu @mikeymusumeci"

63 percent of the fans chose 'Darth Rigatoni' while the other 37 percent picked the 21-year-old phenom to retain his 26-pound golden belt. A significant factor for the result of this poll was the form of both fighters, as Musumeci currently has five straight submission wins.

The Evolve MMA representative has forced a tap out of Masakazu Imanari, Osamah Almarwai, Jarred Brooks, Shinya Aoki, and Gabriel Sousa. On the other hand, Ruotolo only has one finish in his last four submission grappling matches and has shifted his focus in competing in MMA by making his debut against Blake Cooper on June 7 at ONE 167.

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Mikey Musumeci reveals his secret to keeping himself grounded

Ahead of his quest to be the first-ever two-division submission grappling world champion in the history of ONE Championship, Mikey Musumeci had an interview with Cageside Press, and he shared his secret of being a humble person.

According to him, he is always hard on himself, and as a perfectionist, he always strives to be the best version of himself. However, he also acknowledged that having this kind of attitude is not always good since the downside is not enjoying things and constantly feeling miserable.

ONE 168: Denver will transpire from the Ball Arena in Colorado on Sept. 6. Tickets for the event are available on Ticketmaster.