Mikey Musumeci 'Not Surprised' ONE Strawweight Champion Will Be His Title Challenger

ONE Championship has made a bullish push to develop the sport of submission grappling into a mainstream event, and Mikey Musumeci is its top-featured attraction.

The reigning ONE flyweight submission grappling champion has been an unstoppable force over his last four bouts under the ONE Championship umbrella and his next opponent will have him defend his title against mixed martial arts (MMA) star and ONE strawweight champ Jarred Brooks.

Speaking with the media following ONE Fight Night 12 last Saturday, July 15 (Friday, July 14 in the U.S.) where it was made public that he was going up against Brooks, Musumeci appears to have expected it to happen sooner or later.

"I'm not surprised. Jarred (Brooks) is a wrestler and he likes Jiu-jitsu and grappling. It only makes sense for Jarred and I to grapple. He's a high-level wrestler so I feel like he has a good grappling ability He's super tough and definitely hard to finish," Musumeci stated.

"Most MMA guys are really hard to finish. It's going to be a good test to see how good my finishing mechanics are with chokes and joint submissions."

Musumeci quickly established his name with the fans of the Southeast Asian combat sports promotion after defeating Japanese grappling legend Masakazu Imanari – the inventor of the famed Imanari Roll used by the likes of Tony Ferguson and, most notably, Ryan Hall in the UFC.

Most recently, "Darth Rigatoni" again made short work of his opponent as he claimed a submission victory over Osamah Almarwai by way of rear-naked choke.

As for how he plans to prepare against Brooks, Musumeci had the following to say.

"My preparation for every match is the same. I just go for the kill every second. I have ADHD, I don't like waiting. It drives me crazy. I just like getting to the finish as fast as possible. If you see my matches, I'm constantly attacking," he pointed out.

Brooks has become an infamous figure among ONE Championship fans as his penchant for trash talk may rub some the wrong way, but it was exactly that, plus his outstanding wrestling that led to him becoming the strawweight king after besting then-titleholder Joshua Pacio in December 2022.

"He seems super respectful so far. I've known him for a long time, and he seems like a nice guy but maybe he will because that's his personality, but I don't really care what he does. I'll show him respect and all my opponents respect because I don't change how I am for any opponent," Musumeci noted.

"If he wants to show me respect, awesome. If he doesn't want to show me respect, awesome. It doesn't change how I behave with him. I'm just so excited to grapple with him."

The pair are set to do battle at ONE Fight Night 13 on August 4.