Mikey Musumeci says submission not guaranteed against Shinya Aoki: “He is a tough guy to finish”

ONE flyweight submission grappling world champion Mikey Musumeci took a step back from his initial statement.

He initially vowed to finish Shinya Aoki in their openweight submission grappling match this Friday, October 6, at ONE Fight Night 15. The event will take place inside the iconic Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.

‘Darth Rigatoni,’ who comes into the match with a five-fight win streak, including three submission wins, will give up at least 35 pounds because his natural weight class is two divisions below Aoki's.

Musumeci has now admitted that finishing the former ONE lightweight MMA world champion is a daunting task. The 27-year-old BJJ wizard shared this in his most recent ONE Championship interview:

“My style is just aggressive and attacking every second. Sometimes it takes me a little longer than that. But he’ll be tough because Kade Ruotolo, the 170-pound champion, fought him and couldn't finish. So I'm going up in weight and fighting a guy that the champion couldn't finish and he is a tough guy to finish.”

The ultimate goal of beating a legend like ‘Tobika Judan’ is still in Musumeci’s mind ahead of the elite submission grappling showdown. This is despite the nasty food poisoning incident he suffered last week in Bangkok, which came after he consumed a street-cut watermelon.

It is yet to be seen if that unfortunate event will affect his performance on fight night, but the Evolve MMA representative will bring the momentum of his previous submission win against Jarred Brooks.

He submitted the strawweight MMA champ in August at ONE Fight Night 13 to successfully defend his world title for the third time.

ONE Fight Night 15 will emanate from the Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand, this Friday, October 6. The entire event is set to air live in U.S. primetime free of charge for Amazon Prime Video subscribers in North America.