On Friday at ONE Fight Night 12: Superlek vs. Khalilov on Prime Video, American Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu sensation Tammi Musumeci picked up her second straight victory in ONE.
She earned a hard-fought decision win over good friend and former opponent Amanda “Tubby” Alequin in their strawweight submission grappling bout.
The two world-class black belts traded positions and submission attacks for 10 minutes of high-paced action at Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand, on July 14.
While Musumeci was certainly happy to showcase some of her elite BJJ techniques – including an early guillotine choke attempt – the American feels that she didn’t perform up to her own lofty standards.
After the match, the five-time IBJJF World Champion said:
“I definitely felt technically good. And I definitely had a lot of opportunities. I am happy I was able to get to some positions I did — like get to a guillotine — and then I was able to [sweep] and then pass guard at one point, and got to north-south. And then I took the back at the end, which [I] was really happy about. But I definitely did not meet my expectations.
“I probably performed maybe 20 to 30 percent of my ability, so I’m disappointed that I wasn’t able to do the best I was able to do.”
She was quick to credit Alequin, though, who did something few grapplers have the courage to do — attack Musumeci’s vaunted guard for every second of the contest.
The New Jersey native appreciated an opponent who wasn’t afraid to exchange attack for attack.
Musumeci said:
“It did feel good to have someone attacking, and I definitely have a ton to work on. She definitely was aggressive. She felt strong. She felt really good.”
Grappling at the highest levels of BJJ has taken Musumeci all around the world, but this was her first experience competing in Thailand, and she couldn’t have asked for a better time.
She added:
“I definitely want to come back to this country. It’s a beautiful country. The people are very sweet, very respectful. That was another thing; everywhere we went the people were really nice. So [it was] a very good experience.”
Tammi Musumeci Embraces Opportunity To Grow BJJ
With her victory over Amanda Alequin, Tammi Musumeci improved her ONE record to 2-0, quickly making her one of the organization’s fastest-rising stars.
She joins her brother, reigning ONE Flyweight Submission Grappling World Champion Mikey Musumeci, as a fixture of ONE’s rapidly expanding submission grappling division.
Musumeci understands that she holds a unique responsibility to not only display world-class BJJ techniques, but also make grappling exciting for ONE’s global fan base.
She said:
“I feel like it was a big pressure on us jiu-jitsu athletes to be able to put on a show for people who might not have that experience [in BJJ] so that they’ll also become fans. So I feel like when we do cool moves, then the fans will be able to get into it and realize, wow, although there’s no punching, we’re doing really cool technical things.”
And even though she might feel some pressure to make each of her matches entertaining, the 29-year-old is happy to embrace it.
In fact, as one of the faces of submission grappling, Musumeci knows she has the chance of a lifetime to grow the sport on a massive scale.
She said:
“I think that’s pretty cool that ONE is giving us that opportunity, but it also comes with great responsibility.”
