The American submission specialist can gauge his development when he takes on old rival Cleber Sousa for the inaugural ONE flyweight submission grappling world title at ONE on Prime Video 2: Xiong vs. Lee III this Friday, September 30th, at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.
In an interview with ONE Championship, Musumeci said it’d be up to Sousa how he responds to his attack and if the Brazilian star can keep up with the holds he’s about to showcase in their match.
He added:
Musumeci is coming off an impressive debut in ONE Championship when he submitted Japanese legend Masakazu Imanari with a rear-naked choke in their match at ONE 156 this past April.
Sousa, meanwhile, will step inside the Circle for the first time at ONE on Prime Video 2.
Although they’re both relative newcomers to the promotion, Musumeci and Sousa have shared an interesting rivalry. The two Brazilian jiu-jitsu aces are 1-1 in their head-to-head matchups, with both of their fights happening in 2017.
‘Clandestino’ was the one who drew first blood when he took a decision win over Musumeci at the 2017 Pan Jiu-Jitsu Championship in March of that year. A month later, it was ‘Darth Rigatoni’ who ended up winning when he took a points win at the 2017 Abu Dhabi World Pro.
Mikey Musumeci praises Sousa’s resiliency
Mikey Musumeci has had his fair share of opponents, but he sees Sousa as probably his toughest yet.
In the same ONE Championship interview, Musumeci said Sousa is the most resilient opponent he’s ever faced and that the Brazilian grappler has a near-endless gas tank during fights.
Although their two previous fights took place in 2017, it’s interesting to see how the two fighters have developed five years since their first encounters.
0 votes
