Mikey Musumeci says size doesn’t matter in jiu-jitsu: “I was able to beat some 400-pound guy”

Reigning and undisputed ONE flyweight submission grappling world champion ‘Darth Rigatoni’ Mikey Musumeci is up for the biggest challenge of his career, quite figuratively.

Musumeci is set to face multi-time former ONE lightweight MMA world champion ‘Tobikan Judan’ Shinya Aoki in an openweight submission grappling showdown at ONE Fight Night 15 this Friday night. He’s moving up nearly four weight classes to take on a natural 170-pound fighter.

Speaking to ONE Championship in a recent interview, Musumeci talked about the sheer size difference between him and Aoki.

‘Darth Rigatoni’ said:

“He [Aoki] is like a 170-pounder, right? So I'm moving up from 135 to 170, so it's definitely different, you know…So it's a little different dynamic, right? So, but anyways, yeah, I think he'll have like 30 pounds on me for sure. At least 35, maybe 40 pounds even.”

Musumeci isn’t sweating the size difference. In fact, he says the foundation of BJJ is being able to take on larger opponents, even sharing a story about how he grappled with a 400-pound opponent once.

He added:

“I don't know how much he weighs, but it should be interesting. I always love challenges with people bigger than me to see how good my jiu-jitsu is. You know, because he'll be stronger and that's the beauty about jiu-jitsu, that even though there's a size difference, you could sometimes make it work against bigger people. You know, because it's all about body positioning and leverage. So even when somebody is heavier than you, you could use their weight against [them].

“You know, I was able to beat some 400-pound guy, so sometimes you're able to use their weight against them as opposed to like wrestling and standup where there's gravity involved. It's way more difficult. The size advantage, like if two people are equally skilled, doesn’t really matter because we're on the floor. It doesn't. The size doesn't matter as much.”

Musumeci and Aoki lock horns at ONE Fight Night 15, which broadcasts live from the iconic Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand this Friday, October 6.

Fans in the United States and Canada can catch all the action live and absolutely free on Amazon Prime Video.