UFC BJJ
Mikey Musumeci | Let Me Entertain You
UFC BJJ Bantamweight Champion Holds Himself To Lofty Standards, Where Winning Alone Simply Isn’t Good Enough Anymore. At UFC BJJ 5, He Intends To Win – And Do It In Style
The diagnosis is in: Mikey Musumeci is addicted to pressure.
For Musumeci, being the reigning UFC BJJ bantamweight champion is his minimum requirement. As far as he’s concerned, there’s so much more that goes on top of winning the title, and he is confident that the extra layers of self-imposed pressure will bring out an even better version of himself when he returns to the Bowl Thursday night at UFC BJJ 5.
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Musumeci is set to headline the event at the Meta APEX in Las Vegas, where he’ll put his 135-pound title on the line against Scotland’s IBJJF No-Gi world champion Shay Montague. And, as he prepares for his third UFC BJJ appearance, “Darth Rigatoni” admitted that he’s feeling relaxed and comfortable ahead of the matchup.
“I’m so happy to be here,” Musumeci beamed.
“This is my home now. I'm so comfortable here. I was just telling one of the guys that I get zero anxiety being here now, like, I'm actually energetic! Like, this is the most energetic I've been any fight week.
“I think, because my weight is perfect, my energy is up, Everything is on point, I'm so confident, so I'm just enjoying everything right now.”
FULL MATCH: Musumeci vs Rerisson Gabriel
Musumeci was the poster boy for UFC BJJ when it was unveiled to the world in 2025. He coached opposite Rerisson Gabriel in the TUF-style UFC BJJ: Road To The Title show in the lead-up to the inaugural UFC BJJ event, where he heel-hooked the Brazilian to capture the inaugural bantamweight title.
Then, in October, he returned to the Bowl and subbed Keven Carrasco with his signature “Mikey Lock” to retain his title. As he explained to UFC.com this week, that title defense felt much more comfortable than the pressure of that first show at UFC BJJ 1.
“It was a relief, you know, going into that match already champion,” he explained.
“Getting the belt, I was so anxious, just because it was the first UFC BJJ event ever. It was UFC BJJ 1, you know? So going into this one, it's the same procedure now.
“’I’m a creature of habit. Once I alter my homeostasis, it can be hard at first, but once I adjust, it becomes normal, like a day of training for me. So I'm just excited to ‘train’ with Shay. He's a technical guy, and I've been working very hard, training with a lot of high-level people, as well. I'm excited to see if the stuff I'm working on will work on him, and I'm excited to see what different reactions he gives me. I'm very confident in this match.”
The topic of pressure is something that crops up a lot with Musumeci. Held up as the standard-bearer for the sport as UFC BJJ launched, there was an expectation on him to perform, no more so than from himself. While some athletes can crumble under pressure, Musumeci actively seems to pursue it. It’s one of the things that has taken him to where he stands today.
WATCH: Every UFC BJJ Submission
“Let's talk about pressure,” he said.
“Every time, since I was a kid, I would have this insane amount of pressure, right? And then all of a sudden, I'd like, ‘Wow, I got used to it,’ and then the pressure would just get higher. You know? I just because I kept doing something bigger, bigger, bigger. I never just stayed doing the same thing.
“So, because I always raised myself, that feeling of the pressure raising, I'm used to so much now. So, I love it. I'm addicted to it. Whenever I don't feel that pressure feeling, I don't get any highs from this. So then I look – what can I do to get a high? I'm a drug junkie, basically, with the competing.”
Musumeci didn’t have to look for long to find another level of pressure to place on himself. The 29-year-old finds himself in a somewhat unique position as a champion. While in most sports, champions simply have to do what they need to do to hold on to their title and remain on top, for Musumeci, there’s the added responsibility to entertain in order to help grow the sport he loves so much.
Trying to strike that perfect balance between sporting success and entertaining new fans is something he admits he’s still – pardon the pun – grappling with.
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“When I was younger, and I first got to black belt and winning worlds, my mindset was, ‘Just win!’ Everything was about winning. It was so much more chill, I would say, because I could win a match, a close match, closely, just playing strategy or whatever, and winning. Like, ‘Yes! I won! I did it!’
“But then what happens is, when you get older and you have all this pressure and you're trying to build our sport, I can't just win matches. If I just win the match, everyone's mad at me, you know? They're like, ‘What the f*** Mikey?! You should have done more. You should have done this. You should have done that.’
“So it's an extra layer when you actually have to perform and make things more exciting for people, and it makes you first miserable, like it makes you in hell that I can't just win a match, you know? But now I'm used to that also, and I'm actually grateful for it, because it brought me to another level.
“My goal is to have the best jiu-jitsu I can, and to keep getting better. So, if you have this insane standard where I'm not able to just win a match anymore, I have to, like, do it beautifully, where it gets views and people are satisfied, or everyone's just pissed at me, that kind of made me a lot better, you know?
“That's why this match, I'm really trying to show a different part of my jiu-jitsu. That's why I’m ‘Dagastani Mikey’ now, and, yeah, this I'm here to entertain. I’m not here to just win. That’s honestly the motto of this match: I’m here to entertain.”
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Musumeci carries a lot of pressure and responsibilities on his shoulders as he sets sky-high standards for himself and his performances inside the Bowl. And to make his task even trickier this weekend, he said he’d like to get the job done without using his go-to arsenal of leg attacks.
“I think how Thursday night goes is, I don't do any leg locks,” he stated.
When Mikey hit the Mikey lock 🔒
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“I’m praying I don't. I really hope I don't leg lock him. I'm gonna really try not to, and I end up in some back take, some pass, any other submission besides the leg lock, I'll be very happy. If I get a leg lock. I'll win. And I'll probably smile like a fake smile. Inside, I’ll be pissed.”
The reason for eschewing leg locks in his pursuit of victory isn’t so much for entertainment reasons. It’s because for all of his competitiveness, Musumeci doesn’t want to impart lasting damage on his opponents.
“I hate injuring people. I really don't like it,” he said.
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“In my match with Rerisson, I had two inside heel hooks that I didn’t fully extend, because I didn’t want to break his knee. He’s my friend. I like him.
I had one crazy fight where I really hurt someone’s knee, so I really don’t want to hurt anyone, so I would really prefer not a leg lock. But, if I have to…
“But also, because people get mad at me, they know I can leg lock everyone now, so they're like, ‘Why are you doing something you already could do?’ I'm just doing it to win, right? But I’m not allowed to have that. I’ve got to give extra layers to make it harder for me.
“If I see (a leg lock opportunity), I know my algorithm will just take it, and I'll be pissed after at myself for doing it, but I'm really hoping I don’t.”