Mikey Musumeci says recent China trip allowed him to ‘spread jiu-jitsu’: “That’s our goal”

ONE flyweight submission grappling world champion Mikey Musumeci had the opportunity to showcase jiu-jitsu in a recent trip to China. He said it was a big step in further advancing the sport and taking it to more people.

Having had a lot of success in grappling, ‘Darth Rigatoni’ has taken it as his cause to help promote the sport of jiu-jitsu. Being part of ONE Championship has provided him a platform for it, and he wants to continue tapping on it to bring submission grappling to a country like China.

Mikey Musumeci shared to the South China Morning Post in an interview:

“It literally gives me fulfillment and purpose to keep doing jiu-jitsu, you know, which is spreading jiu-jitsu and helping more people in our sport, right? So China has 1.4 billion people right so that's definitely a place I want to help spread jiu-jitsu.

"And that's our goal now, like just how U.S. had jiu-jitsu spread from Brazil, like now we have to do that to the whole world so it could help and better so many people's lives. So that's for sure a goal of mine and it's very special because it's exactly what my intentions are in jiu-jitsu now.”

Watch the interview below:

Mikey Musumeci made his ONE debut in April 2022 and has steadily become one of the faces of submission grappling in the promotion.

He became ONE flyweight submission grappling world champion in his second fight in September last year by defeating Brazilian Cleber Sousa by unanimous decision. The BJJ black belt has had three successful title defenses so far, the last one against strawweight mixed martial arts king Jarred Brooks in an all-champion clash in August.

Prior to joining ONE, Mikey Musumeci was already a decorated Brazilian jiu-jitsu athlete, including winning five International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation world championships while representing the United States.