Mikey Musumeci off ONE Championship's Denver card, turns down openweight bout

Mikey Musumeci has elected not to compete on Friday night's ONE 168 card in Denver, despite being offered an openweight bout after losing his submission grappling title on the scale on Thursday.

ONE Championship boss Chatri Sityodtong told Sportskeeda that Musumeci was also initially offered a catchweight non-title bout against Bebeto Oliveira this week, after his 170lbs super fight with lightweight champion Kade Ruotolo fell through.

As per Chatri, Musumeci instead requested a flyweight title defence on short notice, insisting he could make the 135lbs limit. However, he was ultimately stripped of his belt after failing to pass hydration at Thursday's official ONE 168 weigh-ins.

Chatri insisted Musumeci did not cut a drastic amount of weight as he was already "weighing around the low end of the [lightweight] range" when the Ruotolo fight fell through. ONE chairman told Sportskeeda:

"When Kade dropped out, Mikey was in the 150-ish pound range. We gave him a few options – catchweight and title fight. Mikey chose the title fight. He was already at around 150 pounds a few days ago. He did not cut 35 pounds."

Chatri said Musumeci was offered an openweight bout after he missed weight on Thursday, and that Musumeci and Oliveira both accepted. He added:

"But I think the weight cut really roughed him up. Late last night, Mikey started to feel unewell, so he just elected not to compete and withdraw from the bout. He wasn't feeling 100 per cent."

Musumeci and Oliveira did not face off at Thursday evening's ceremonial weigh-ins at the host Sheraton Denver Downtown Hotel.

Brazil's IBJJF champion Oliveira had no issues with weight or hydration earlier in the morning, but ring announcer Dom Lau told the crowd that Musumeci's weight was "still not official."

Sportskeeda had also reached out to ONE officials for comment and received a statement on Friday morning. It read:

"After recent events, we feel it is necessary to provide additional context on Mikey Musumeci’s withdrawal from the ONE 168: Denver card. Mikey was obviously put in a difficult spot when Kade Ruotolo withdrew due to injury. When that happened, we worked closely with him and his team on a new opponent."

The statement said competing at flyweight was something Musumeci "personally requested" as he "felt confident that he could make the hydrated limit of 135lbs for a world title defence." It added:

"This is not something we pushed him to do on short-notice or would ever demand of a ONE athlete given how much we prioritise fighter safety."

ONE officials insisted they continued to work with Musumeci to try and keep him on the card after he failed weight and hydration tests on Thursday, and offered an openweight submission grappling contest against Oliveira.

But Musumeci "ultimately felt it was in his best interest to withdraw from the contest, and we are honoring that," the statement concluded.

Musumeci had put out a statement on Instagram on Thursday night bemoaning "one of the worst days of my life in jiu jitsu" after losing his title on the scale. He wrote:

"I wanted so bad to compete on ONE 168 in Denver, I felt horrible [for] the fans that were coming to see me and I felt I was letting them down. I tried to make the championship 135lbs weight in about 72 hours but it was too much on short notice after preparing for the Kade match."

He added:

"My body and hydration shut down when I got to 136 earlier today. Today I lost my belt, today I let down the fans and Iawant to apologise to my opponent Bebeto, someone I respect greatly, not being able to make the weight. I’m so sorry to everyone I gave it my all. But God has everything happen for a reason. I’m so sorry again everyone."