Mikey Musumeci wants to ‘bring back’ an old part of himself

Mikey Musumeci is determined to rediscover a piece of himself that he had lost along the way.

Musumeci admitted in an interview with South China Morning Post that his continued success in recent years has led to a bout of complacency. ‘Darth Rigatoni’ admitted that simply going through the motions and winning title after title made him start taking things for granted. Fortunately, he saw the error in his way before any irreparable damage was done.

“I [feel] like it’s super easy when you’re in a position I’m in to get content. And when you stick to a certain routine, over time, you kind of just get complacent,” Musumeci told the South China Morning Post in a recent interview. “I wanted to get that feeling again like when I just got to black belt and I was hungry to win Worlds. I wanted to bring back an old part of me kind of, and I did.”

Becoming the promotion’s first-ever submission grappling world champion last year, Mikey Musumeci suddenly has something to fight for once again and he has looked nothing short of unstoppable every step of the way. After successfully defending his title in January against Sambo World Champion Gatumur Bayanduuren, ‘Darth Rigatoni’ will look to continue building his legacy at ONE Fight Night 10 on May 5.

Standing in the way of a second-straight title defense will be another IBJJF world champion, Osamah Almarwai. With 22 career wins in Brazilian jiu-jitsu competition, Yemen’s black belt standout is ready to rise to the challenge and walk away with ONE Championship gold in his promotional debut.

Amazon Prime Video subscribers in North America can catch Mikey Musumeci vs. Osamah Almarwai, plus all the action from ONE Fight Night 10 live and free in U.S. primetime on May 5.