Mikey Musumeci shares thoughts on ‘awesome’ Anatoly Malykhin

Budding stars Mikey Musumeci and Anatoly Malykhin are both world champions under ONE's banner. 'Darth Rigatoni' relayed his thoughts on spending time with the undefeated champ.

Both Musumeci and Malykhin are unbeaten inside the circle, with a combined record of 7-0. The former is the flyweight submission grappling champ, while the latter holds both the interim heavyweight strap and the light heavyweight crown.

The New Jersey native spoke with SCMP MMA about his relationship with Malykhin:

"He’s awesome. He would break me in half, he’s so big. He’s so cool. He’s teaching me Russian. He’s getting better [in English]. He could talk more English now."

Anatoly Malykhin would unquestionably break Musumeci in half, considering he can break fighters in half who are in his own weight class. The Russian powerhouse has steamrolled everyone in his path thus far.

Watch Mikey Musumeci's conversation with SCMP MMA below:

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Mikey Musumeci doesn't see the point in not tapping

'Darth Rigatoni' made his first flyweight title defense at ONE Fight Night 6 on Prime Video — besting Gantumur Bayanduuren by way of unanimous decision.

Musumeci picked up the victory and looked impressive in doing so, but his opponent left the circle with three torn ligaments in his knee. The champ doesn't see a viable reason to not tap in a situation like that. He told reporters:

“Yeah, I just think it was just no point, he lost anyway. For example, you're winning a match in IBJJF, where there are points and you're in a submission. You tap it out, you might pop your foot or something but you win the match. But if you're completely losing a match, and you're in full-lock submission, just not tapping, you're just going to injure yourself.”

As a truly respectful competitor, Musumeci felt terrible after finding out the extent of Bayanduuren's injuries. He also noted that the Mongolian grappler was the toughest opponent that he has faced in ONE Championship.

Make sure to check back with Sportskeeda for an announcement pertaining to Mikey Musumeci's next match, as he'll look to defend his belt for a second time.

Check out Mikey Musumeci's full ONE Fight Night 6 post-fight presser below: