It won’t be all pizza and pasta for ONE Flyweight Submission Grappling World Champion Mikey Musumeci when he moves up a staggering three weight classes to challenge lightweight king Kade Ruotolo.
“Darth Rigatoni” challenges Ruotolo for the latter’s lightweight submission grappling crown in a dream matchup at ONE 168 at the Ball Arena in Denver, Colorado, on September 7.
Mikey Musumeci just tried his hand one weight class above his native flyweight at ONE 167: Tawanchai vs. Nattawut II this past weekend.
The jump proved no issue whatsoever for the 27-year-old, who needed little more than three minutes to take out rival Gabriel Sousa with a calf slicer, avenging his 2018 defeat to the Brazilian – the last loss of his career.
His upcoming bout against Ruotolo, however, will test his skills on a whole new level.
Mikey Musumeci won’t bulk up to face Kade Ruotolo at lightweight
Fresh from defeating Gabriel Sousa at ONE 167, Mikey Musumeci has revealed that he won’t bulk up to challenge ONE Lightweight Submission Grappling World Champion Kade Ruotolo.
Speaking at the ONE 167 post-fight press conference, the American star detailed his plans.
“For me, it’s not about putting on weight, it’s about just feeling as strong as I could be. I’m afraid if I get too heavy, I’ll lose cardio and gas out in the first minute, especially because Kade has the best cardio,” he said.
“So, I’ll definitely probably stay lighter and maybe, if I can, I’ll try to put on another five pounds of muscle. I feel like that would be a reasonable number, 10 max. But I can’t see myself being 10 without eating more protein. I was trying for this match to eat more protein so that helped me get a little heavier. So maybe another five pounds, if that.”
Musumeci has, in fact, campaigned at lightweight before, albeit against non-grappling specialist opposition.
The Evolve MMA representative defeated former ONE Lightweight MMA World Champion Shinya Aoki with his own signature “Aoki Lock” at ONE Fight Night 15 this past October.