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Mikey Musumeci put on a show at ONE on Prime Video 2. Against his rival Cleber 'Clandestino' Sousa, Musumeci never took his foot off the pedal as he dominated the bout from start to finish. The bout, which was for the first-ever ONE submission grappling world title, signals the beginning of a new era in the organization.
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Coming into the bout, the two were 1-1 in their rivalry and were looking to finally settle the score inside the Circle. With a wealth of experience in each other's game, Musumeci and Sousa nearly canceled each other out, with Musumeci mostly leading the dance.
In the end, despite not scoring a submission, Musumeci won the bout due to the sheer volume of submission attempts he's produced. It wasn't even close. Sousa, despite trying his best to repel Musumeci's submission attempts, couldn't find a way to attack.
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Mikey Musumeci vs. Cleber Sousa at ONE on Prime Video 2 was the first grappling world title bout to be fought under a major MMA promotion like ONE Championship. It will likely be the first of many submission world titles ONE will be creating, as different weight classes are also on their roster.
With the fanbase and prestige ONE already has in the fight world, having submission grappling world titles alongside their MMA, kickboxing and Muay Thai will skyrocket the sport of jiujitsu further into the mainstream.
Watch the Mikey Musumeci vs. Cleber Sousa match here:
What's next for Mikey Musumeci?
After winning the inaugural ONE flyweight submission grappling world title, Musumeci is already hunting for new challenges. During his post-fight interview with Mitch Chilson, Musumeci called for a grappling match with ONE flyweight world champion and MMA legend Demetrious 'Mighty Mouse' Johnson.
It was perhaps the most respectful and nicest call-out ever:
"We can make history together, you know. I know me and him [Johnson] can bring the MMA and jiu-jitsu fans together. And it would be just a historic, incredible event. It will be an honor to step on the mats with him. It's not a callout - it's just a respectful request to roll [laughs]."
Another possible match-up Musumeci is looking into is a submission grappling match with a Sambo world champion. This particular call-out was born out of former UFC champion Khabib Nurmagomedov's cheeky quote, "If Sambo was easy, they would call it jiu-jitsu."
Needless to say, Mikey Musumeci is protective of his sport. In another interview with ONE Championship, 'Darth Rigatoni' sent another respectful challenge to any Sambo world champion to face him in a submission grappling match:
"There a funny quote by Khabib [Nurmagomedov]. He said, 'If Sambo was easy, it would be called jiu-jitsu'. So let's have the sambo guys compete with the jiu-jitsu people. Let me fight the top world champion of my weight class in Sambo, and let's see which is superior in the submission grappling format."
