"This guy harassed me for every match" - Mikey Musumeci on why win over Gabriel Sousa was personal

An angry Mikey Musumeci is one version no one has ever seen. That was, of course, until he exacted revenge to perfection at last week's ONE 167 card inside the Impact Arena in Bangkok, Thailand.

Leading up to their much-anticipated bantamweight submission grappling rematch on June 7, there was very little talk about Musumeci's plan and ambitions for fight night. On Sousa's end, the Brazilian debutant seemed game and prepared to extend his lead over 'Darth Rigatoni' to 2-0.

However, after coming into this redo in Bangkok, Thailand, motivated by his submission loss to Sousa, the ONE flyweight submission grappling world champion, who appeared to be ever so silent, had the last laugh.

Speaking on his monumental win, Musumeci had this to say during the ONE 167 post-event press conference:

"Yeah, for me this match was very important because three or four years ago, I lost to this opponent, and I had COVID-19. Obviously, I was not normal Mikey. But it was three or four weight classes above my regular weight class."

On his uncharacteristically vulgar outburst inside the circle, Musumeci went on to add:

"So for three or four years, this guy harassed me for every match that I did, discrediting me, ‘Yo he’s not fighting me, he’s scared of me, he’s running away from me’ just over and over and over and over.’"

Watch the full post-fight presser here:

As brutal as he may have sounded, it was simply a testament to his mindset after years of tension building up to a chance to redeem himself against Sousa.

The ONE 167 replay is available to North American fans on Amazon Prime Video.

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Mikey Musumeci looks forward to 'exciting' Kade Ruotolo clash at ONE 168: Denver

With a much-needed win over Sousa now behind him and an additional US$50,000 performance bonus, Mikey Musumeci will look forward to his next challenge on the global stage, where an opportunity to create history awaits him.

At ONE 168: Denver, the promotion's second on-ground spectacle in North America, the flyweight submission grappling king moves up to challenge Kade Ruotolo for his lightweight strap inside the Ball Arena.

During the same session, Musumeci shared his thoughts on this all-champion showdown, explaining why it makes thorough sense for him to lock horns with one of the planet's most elite ground game wizards on Sept. 6. He shared:

"I always asked to train with him, so why not just do it in front of a lot of people? It will be really exciting, you know? Also the energy we have with each other is so respectful."

Follow this link to purchase your tickets for ONE 168: Denver.