“You're able to discover new things” - Mikey Musumeci shares how jiu-jitsu is an art

Mikey Musumeci has always been of the inquisitive sort and that curiosity has clearly stuck with him in his continued pursuit of Brazilian jiu-jitsu mastery.

That trait of his will be put to the test when he battles his former adversary Cleber Sousa for the inaugural ONE flyweight submission grappling world title at ONE on Prime Video 2: Xiong vs. Lee III this Friday, US primetime, in the Singapore Indoor Stadium.

Musumeci’s world title match will be his third fight against Sousa following two close bouts in 2017.

In an interview with ONE Championship, Musumeci said that he and his training partner would drill a submission over and over to the point where his body would just move on instinct instead of his mind stressing over a possible solution:

"That's how I basically train, I will be doing a position over and over, and then I'll tell my partner, this is how you stop it. And then they'll stop it. Eventually, it gets to a point where one of the reactions really starts messing up what I'm doing, and I have to keep brainstorming ‘how do I do this?’ So I get into this problem-solving state, usually, it happens first subconsciously. My body will just instinctively find an answer to a position. And I'm like, what just happened? How did I do that? And then that's where the creativity just happens.”

He added:

“That's why jiu-jitsu is an art. Because it's so much creativity in problem-solving, in figuring out moves. It's a feeling if that makes sense. And when you have that creative, artistic way, you're able to discover new things. And many positions I made and developed have been in that state of discovery.”

Musumeci’s creativity was on full display when he made his ONE Championship debut against Japanese legend Masakazu Imanari at ONE 156 this past April.

‘Darth Rigatoni’ knew that Imanari, the creator of the Imanari roll, would target his legs and he immediately pulled guard to prevent ‘Ashikan-Judan’ from employing his signature roll.

It didn’t take much for Mikey Musumeci to get the back and force Imanari to submit to a well-placed rear-naked choke.

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Mikey Musumeci ready for his trilogy bout against Sousa

It may have taken more than five years, but Mikey Musumeci is ready for his trilogy bout against Sousa.

Musumeci and Sousa met twice in 2017 and have one win against each other. Sousa took a decision win in their fight at the Pan American Jiu-Jitsu Championship in March of that year.

Just a month later and it was Musumeci who was standing in the winner’s circle when he scored a points win over his Brazilian rival in the 2017 Abu Dhabi World Professional Jiu-Jitsu Championship.

With the chance of breaking the tie, and becoming the first ONE flyweight submission grappling world champion, Mikey Musumeci admitted that he hasn’t taken a break in the past three months while preparing for Sousa.

During the ONE on Prime Video 2 press conference, Mikey Musumeci said:

“I’m here in Singapore to do two things - do jiu-jitsu and eat pizza. And pizza places don’t open till after the match. So I’m here to do jiu-jitsu with Cleber, he’s amazing. I worked so hard in preparation for this match and I’m so ready. I haven’t taken one day off in like three months, so I’m so ready for this match.”