“He’s just solid and tough” - Mikey Musumeci says Cleber Sousa’s grit is the most difficult aspect of the fight

Mikey Musumeci knows a ton about his opponent Cleber Sousa, and he expects his former foe to use that trademark toughness in their world title fight.

Musumeci and Sousa will battle for the inaugural ONE submission grappling world title at ONE on Prime Video 2: Xiong vs. Lee III at the Singapore Indoor Stadium on Friday, US primetime.

In an interview with ONE Championship, Musumeci said that ‘Clandestino’ is probably the most resilient opponent he’s had in his career. ‘Darth Rigatoni’ fought Sousa twice already and the pair hold a 1-1 head-to-head record.

Mikey Musumeci said:

“He’s a tough guy, just a really tough, solid guy. Like, he’s one of those guys who’s really hard to do things to. It doesn’t matter what you’re doing to him – he’s just solid and tough. And he doesn’t give up, he pushes forward, he pushes the pace, he tries to break you mentally.”

The two grapplers had a pair of matches in the gi category, with Sousa taking the first match via decision at the 2017 Pan Jiu-Jitsu Championship in March of that year. Mikey Musumeci got his comeuppance just a month later in April, taking a points win over Sousa at the 2017 Abu Dhabi World Pro.

One of the brightest stars in submission grappling today, Musumeci is a five-time IBJJF world champion and he scored an impressive submission win over Japanese legend Masakazu Imanari at ONE 156 this past April.

Sousa, meanwhile, will be thrust into the biggest fight of his career when he debuts in a world title match at ONE Championship.

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Mikey Musumeci explains the origin of his catchy nickname

Nicknames in sports, especially those in combat-based disciplines, are often of the most menacing variety. Mikey Musumeci’s, however, is one of those monikers that got the correct balance of being catchy and threatening.

Musumeci is known by ‘Darth Rigatoni’ in the grappling circuit, and he explained to ONE Championship how his nickname came to be.

He said that the nickname came from a random fan who shouted it during one of his no-gi super fights.

“So that nickname happened because I was doing a bunch of no-gi super-fights. One of the fans randomly said it, and it was just the coolest name ever, and then it just stuck. And then everyone just started calling me that. I’m like, ‘Okay, I’m Darth Rigatoni now.’”

Musumeci has long proclaimed his love for pasta, and rigatoni is a type of Italian pasta. "Darth," meanwhile, is a ranking in the villainous Sith order in the Star Wars franchise.

Although it was borne out of sheer spontaneity, Musumeci said it perfectly exemplifies who he is as a person and as a fighter.

“And it does represent me… because I’m like this nice smiley guy. But then when I go out to compete, I become like a different person. So that’s like the dark part of me comes out, you know? And then five seconds later, I’m smiling Mikey again, talking about pasta and pizza. So it really does symbolize me well, right?"