Mikey Musumeci respects Ruotolo twins for their stance on steroids in jiu-jitsu

ONE Championship is changing the game in submission grappling, and it’s doing so by leaning on a handful of excellent stewards of the sport in guys like Mikey Musumeci and phenoms Kade and Tye Ruotolo.

One of the ways the sport of submission grappling has improved for the better under the ONE banner is by ensuring a level playing field for all competitors. ONE Championship imposes strict penalties for doping in-competition, which submission grappling has historically been plagued with.

However, with Musumeci and the Ruotolo brothers at the helm, constantly pushing for a cleaner sport, the emphasis is on athletes performing at the highest levels without the need for PEDs.

In a recent guest appearance on The Fighter and The Kid, Musumeci talked about sharing the same sentiments on PEDs as the Ruotolo twins. ‘Darth Rigatoni’ said:

“I feel like 99 percent of people in jiu-jitsu are on steroids, unfortunately. And that's why I really respect the Ruotolos and myself because even though we knew everyone was going to fight us with steroids, we never took steroids and we still beat them all.”

Catch the full episode below:

Musumeci has seen immense success in ONE Championship since joining the promotion in April 2022. He is now the reigning ONE flyweight submission grappling world champion, and is in many ways the face of submission grappling in ONE.

Meanwhile, Kade Ruotolo is the reigning ONE lightweight submission grappling world champion, with his twin brother Tye quickly working his way up to a world championship soon as well.

Other notable grapplers in ONE include 17-time Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champion Marcus ‘Buchecha’ Almeida and atomweight star Danielle Kelly.