Mikey Musumeci hopes that signing with UFC will help eradicate PEDs from BJJ: “Legitimate professional platform"

Mikey Musumeci dropped a bombshell announcement two weeks ago that he would no longer be competing under the ONE Championship. Instead, the Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champion will now compete in events held by the UFC after signing a deal with the MMA promotion.

UFC Fight Pass Invitational has hosted numerous high-level BJJ events with some of the sport's biggest names, including Gordon Ryan, Craig Jones and Nicky Rodrigeuz.

But unlike many athletes in BJJ, including Ryan, Musumeci hopes that his move to the UFC will help eradicate steroids from submission grappling.

The former ONE Championship titleholder was recently interviewed by Ariel Helwani after announcing he had signed with the UFC, and discussed what he hoped his acquisition by the promotion could mean for BJJ.

He said:

"It's another platform that could expland our sport to people that wouldn't normally watch jiu-jitsu. It's another platform that will eventually have drug testing as well. It's another platform that could make our sport professional. Instead of all these steroids, all this craziness. I just want a legitimate, professional platform for athletes to have, for kids that are growing up so then they can dream of being a professional jiu-jitsu person."

Check out Mikey Musumeci's comments below (15:15):

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Mikey Musumeci reflects on tearing his lung trying to make weight

Mikey Musumeci was scheduled to face fellow grappling phenom Kade Ruotolo in a mega-fight at ONE: 168 on Sept. 6.

But Ruotolo withdrew from the bout on short-notice, with Musumeci facing a new opponent at a different weight, causing him issues whilst trying to cut weight.

'Darth Rigatoni' was then forced to withdraw from his clash the night before ONE: 168 and was admitted to the hospital after health complications resulting from the weight cut.

It was revealed that Musumeci had suffered a tear in his lung, allowing air to enter his throat, causing severe pain. During his aforementioned interview with Ariel Helwani, he said:

"It's called pneumomediastinum. It's a rip in your lung, and then air went into my throat. When I was trying to sweat, I was like, 'Guys what is wrong with my throat?' It felt like Rice Krispie-bubbles in my throat.... I felt like something was off, I felt like I needed to go to the hospital.... We're so lucky I didn't do that match because if I would have, I would have died." [7:12-9:17 in aforementioned video]