“Stubborn” Mikey Musumeci shares his biggest realization after last world title defense

Mikey Musumeci’s last ONE world title defense made him realize that his own stubbornness could hamper his ability to score a finish inside the Circle.

This Friday night, ‘Darth Rigatoni’ will once again look to defend his ONE flyweight submission grappling world championship as he squares off with Yemen’s first black belt IBJJF world champion, Osamah Almarwai. Before making his way to the 1stBank Center in Denver, Musumeci spoke with the South China Morning Post to reflect on his last appearance inside the Circle.

In January, Mikey Musumeci faced Sambo world champion Gantumur Bayanduuren. ‘Darth Rigatoni’ dominated the matchup from start to finish, attacking the leg of Bayanduuren for the majority of the bout.

Despite locking in an especially nasty knee bar, his opponent refused to tap. Instead of moving on after the damage was done, Musumeci’s own stubbornness kept him gunning for a submission that wasn’t getting the job done.

“Okay, I’m done with being stubborn with things, you know like I have this problem where I’ll be hyper-focused on something then I just fixated on it the whole match so I am not allowed to do that anymore,” Musumeci said.

Watch the full interview below:

To be fair, Bayanduuren's refusal to tap was more a testament to his own toughness than Musumeci’s stubbornness. Following the contest, it was revealed that Musumeci’s submission attempt had torn his opponent’s ACL, MCL, and meniscus. Bayanduuren also suffered a broken ankle from Musumeci's leg lock attempts. Despite the lack of a finish, you couldn’t ask for a more dominant performance.

‘Darth Rigatoni’ will attempt to deliver a similar performance in his ONE Fight Night 10 outing this Friday night. However, Mikey Musumeci will likely be stepping into the Circle with his toughest test yet as he faces another world-class striker in Osamah Almarwai.

Amazon Prime Video subscribers in North America can catch ONE Fight Night 10 live and for free in U.S. primetime on May 5.