Mikey Musumeci shoots down call to face Kade Ruotolo

ONE flyweight submission grappling world champion Mikey Musumeci is not keen on taking on lightweight counterpart Kade Ruotolo anytime soon. Instead, he wants to focus on his division.

‘Darth Rigatoni’ successfully defended his world title at ONE Fight Night 6 on Prime Video. At the event, held on January 13 in Bangkok, the champion defeated Mongolian challenger Gantumur Bayanduuren via unanimous decision.

Asked in the post-fight interview whether he is looking to face the bigger Ruotolo in a future showdown, Mikey Musumeci said he has no plans to and would rather stay in his lane.

He said:

“Kade is like two weight classes above me. He's 170, I'm 135. So I just really want to focus on my division right now. I don't really plan on going up. I plan to be in it for like 15 years. So I need my body to be healthy. By doing heavier divisions, I'll probably have to stop competing a lot sooner because they'll be too much to take down.”

Mikey Musumeci made his ONE Championship debut in April 2022 and has an unblemished 3-0 record. He won the flyweight submission grappling world title at the expense of Brazilian Cleber Sousa at ONE on Prime Video 2 last September.

Prior to joining the promotion, he won at all levels of Brazilian jiu-jitsu competition while representing the United States, including five IBJJF world championships.

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Mikey Musumeci says Thailand is his "favorite Asian country"

American submission grappler Mikey Musumeci made a successful defense of his world title in Bangkok, and his entire experience fighting in Thailand left a great impression on him.

In his title defense at ONE Fight Night 6 on January 13, the 26-year-old world champion did not allow Mongolian challenger Gantumar Bayanduuren to get his game going in their 10-minute joust en route to claiming a unanimous decision victory.

Mikey Musumeci, who currently resides in Singapore, got the chance to learn about Thai culture while in Thailand and loved every bit of it.

Speaking inside the circle following his victory, ‘Darth Rigatoni’ said:

“So Thailand might be my favorite Asian country ever. I love this country so much. I'm thinking to learn Thai now. That's the next language for me to learn. I want to fight here as much as I can.”

Musumeci has been one of the faces of submission grappling in ONE, along with twin brothers Kade and Tye Ruotolo, since joining the fold last year.

He is thankful to the promotion for making a conscious effort to push the sport of jiu-jitsu and for allowing athletes like him to have a platform to showcase what they are capable of.

ONE Fight Night 6 was the first event of ONE for the year and was broadcast live and free for North American fans with an active Amazon Prime subscription.