Tammi Musumeci trained with brother Mikey Musumeci and other boys when she was young

Tammi Musumeci didn’t have a lot of jiu-jitsu partners to choose from growing up. With the exception of her younger brother Mikey Musumeci, she had to compete against whoever was available at the time.

Tammi Musumeci is expected to make her ONE debut this Friday to face Brazilian black belt Bianca Basilio at ONE Fight Night 8 on Prime Video. Ahead of her match, Tammi reminisced about how she got started in jiu-jitsu.

As many female jiu-jitsu practitioners of this generation can tell you, BJJ wasn’t a popular sport amongst girls since it was mostly considered a “boy” sport. Tammi, however, didn’t pay much attention to that divide. Knowing that she could compete at their level was a lot more satisfying to her than not having enough girls in the room. Speaking to ONE Championship, the 29-year-old rising star said:

“I really didn’t think anything of it at that time. I mean, I already started training jiu-jitsu before I even competed against them, even when I was 15. I mean, it started to be a little different, but I felt like I was still able to compete with them, which was pretty cool.

She continued to talk about how the sport affected her childhood:

“Where I grew up, no girls were competing. I mean, it was pretty much just competing against guys. But I didn't really think anything of it at the time. I liked it, too, because I felt it was pretty cool. I even wrestled in high school a little bit against guys. I just didn't think anything of it.”

Competing against males served her career well as she’s been able to submit her female opponents left, right, and center since she entered the professional scene. However, she’s got a difficult task ahead of her this week against Bianca Basilio, who is also one of the top grappling competitors of this generation.

North American fans can watch Tammi Musumeci stage her ONE debut this Friday, March 24 via Amazon Prime Video.

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Tammi Musumeci credits brother Mikey Musumeci for preparing her all these years

Tammi Musumeci recently credited her younger brother Mikey Musumeci for helping her become a better jiu-jitsu practitioner.

Although they both lead different lives professionally, they’ve never been apart in terms of their training. In learning from one another over the years, both athletes have grown exponentially in terms of skill and technique.

Grateful to have had her brother around to help her improve and become a better grappler, she continued to tell ONE:

"We’ve always been partners. We’re still training partners. We’d train at different gyms, but we’ve always trained with each other on the side as well by ourselves, which I felt helped me a ton because he’d work with me even when he was a blue belt or a kid."