UFC BJJ
Mikey Musumeci | The Hardest Working Man In BJJ
“Darth Rigatoni" Excited To Introduce His Sport To The Masses At UFC BJJ 1 On June 25
As one of the hardest workers in the world of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Mikey Musumeci’s schedule was already quite hectic. Add in a headlining spot on the first UFC BJJ card against Rerisson Gabriel tonight, a recent stint coaching a group of hopefuls on the UFC BJJ Road to the Title reality show and the responsibility of being the face of this whole thing, and yeah, it’s gotten a little crazier for the pizza-loving pride of East Brunswick, New Jersey.
So, how’s he handling all this?
“It's the most pressure I ever had in my life, but I'm grateful for this pressure,” said Musumeci. “I really feel that I've worked hard my whole life and I'm in this insane position right now, and I'm blessed to be in this position and I'm just using it as fuel to perform well in this match.”
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It’s what you want to hear, but it also sounds true from the no nonsense black belt, who earned this place at the top as a five-time world champion who hasn’t lost at 135 pounds for eight years. If he beats Brazil’s Gabriel, he’ll keep that streak going and add a UFC BJJ bantamweight title to his collection. It’s been a long journey for the 28-year-old, one he never pictured when he was on the mats as a kid.
“When I was a kid, I never saw grappling being on UFC or anything,” he said. “I was such a big UFC fan and I really had no idea where grappling was going to go. So to be in this position, to be the face of this program, to be with all this responsibility and pressure, it's insane. It's horrifying, but it's insane. (Laughs) So again, I’m blessed for this opportunity and I just want to perform well. I'm working so hard every day and I just want to put on a good show for everyone and make UFC proud for putting their faith in me.”
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So, why Musumeci? There are a lot of elite grapplers in this sport, many of them with compelling stories and personalities to go along with their skills on the mat. Yet the UFC targeted “Darth Rigatoni.”
“I think that I am more able to connect with the whole world,” he said. “I'm more of a normal, nice person. I'm not really like these fighter, macho, tough guy people. I think I'm pretty unique and I think that I resonate and can connect with more people, and if you like me or hate me, you're still talking about me, I guess. So I feel like I have that factor about me that could connect and bring a wider audience to our sport possibly.”
He can. But with that platform comes the reality that everyone who wants to get to where Musumeci is at has placed a bright, flashing red target on his back. He’s cool with that, having been there before in other competitions.
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“It definitely puts me in a more stressful pressure position, but what I've learned in this sport is that every time I have some pressure, I always overcome it, and then a new layer of pressure happens, and then my homeostasis is altered again,” said Musumeci. “Then I have more pressure and I feel like I'm dying and then I overcome it again. So it's just this building of pressure that slowly, gradually gets more and more and more. I've just been domino building this up like a building, all the way up to where I am now, but I'm used to it. I'm used to overcoming the pressure and I'm used to just handling it and dying with it, but I overcome it always, so it just makes me grow more, and I'm grateful for that.”
Musumeci is even more grateful to introduce his sport to the masses on the biggest stage possible – International Fight Week.
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“I want people to have an open mind and see that we are exciting and that you could get into it as well, and please try to support our event and help our sport grow,” he said. “There's a lot of people in our industry that are against us and are trying to hurt us because we're competing with them, but instead of having that mindset, have the mindset that we're growing our sport and giving other people more opportunities. So please help our sport grow, but also please try to enjoy it. It's really exciting - our new sport that we have and the format and everything. It's so much better than it was, so we're doing such a great thing for grappling. I'm just so excited.”
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