ONE Flyweight Submission Grappling World Champion Mikey “Darth Rigatoni” Musumeci continued his path of dominance in the world’s largest martial arts organization.
Musumeci successfully defended his belt against reigning strawweight MMA king Jarred “The Monkey God” Brooks in the co-main event of ONE Fight Night 13: Allazov vs. Grigorian on Prime Video this past Friday, forcing him to tap out via triangle-armbar.
Musumeci spent the majority of the submission-only showdown attacking from his back, working primarily from his closed guard through the opening minutes at Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.
Chaining techniques together, “Darth Rigatoni” was able to take his American compatriot’s back and seemed to be on his way to finding the rear-naked choke. But after several moments of inactivity, the referee stood the two grapplers up.
The match remained on the feet for only a few seconds, and Musumeci again found himself launching submission attempts from his closed guard. The BJJ black belt maintained his aggression, continued to hand-fight with his rival, and eventually latched onto a reverse triangle choke.
Brooks did his best to defend the choke, but “Darth Rigatoni” created a dual threat by also attacking an armbar in a beautiful display of elite jiu-jitsu technique. Ultimately, the ONE Strawweight MMA World Champion was forced to submit to the triangle-armbar combination at the 7:30 mark of the contest.
Considered by many to be the planet’s top pound-for-pound submission grappler, Musumeci is now 5-0 in ONE Championship, has submitted two opponents in a row, and boasts a career BJJ and submission grappling record of 62-5.
In addition, he has successfully defended his ONE Flyweight Submission Grappling World Title three times this year.
For his handiwork, ONE Chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong awarded Musumeci a US$50,000 performance bonus.
