ONE world champion Mikey Musumeci reveals he was ‘scared to compete’ as a kid

Reigning ONE flyweight submission grappling world champion ‘Darth Rigatoni’ Mikey Musumeci is one of the most accomplished Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioners in the world today. In fact, many consider Musumeci the pound-for-pound best in the sport of grappling right now.

But the Italian-American superstar wasn’t always so talented. Growing up, Musumeci says he was very timid as a child, to the point where he was afraid to join competitions. It wasn’t until he built the experience and the confidence necessary to win that he decided to compete in tournaments.

Today, ‘Darth Rigatoni’ is one of the most feared competitors in BJJ. Needless to say, if you saw your name opposite Musumeci in the bracket, you’d definitely be scared.

In an interview on The Fighter and The Kid with Brendan Schaub, Musumeci talked about learning and competing in BJJ when he was young.

‘Darth Rigatoni’ said:

"I started jiu-jitsu at 4 years old. I don’t even know if I was such an outlier until I was like 10 years old because I was always scared to compete. So, I didn’t compete much as a young kid until like 10 years old.”

Musumeci was last seen in the Circle, defending his world title at ONE Fight Night 10: Johnson vs. Moraes III on Prime Video, against former IBJJF No Gi world champion Osamah Almarwai.

‘Darth Rigatoni’ put on a spectacular performance, choking out Almarwai before time expired to retain his ONE flyweight submission grappling world championship.

Fans in the United States and Canada can catch all the action at ONE Fight Night 10: Johnson vs. Moraes III via replay with an active Amazon Prime Video subscription.