Jiu-jitsu star Mikey Musumeci explains defection from ONE Championship to UFC

Mikey Musumeci wants to change the landscape of professional grappling. An unexpected jump from ONE Championship to the UFC is the latest move in that saga for the submission specialist.

A multi-time world champion and decorated jiu-jitsu black belt, Musumeci has been one of the best global competitors since he debuted at black belt in 2016. In the years since, professional grappling has grown and made significant strides with notable tournaments and promoters. Although success and sustainability have varied, some of the big names like Musumeci have maintained profitable careers.

Musumeci, 28, revealed earlier this month that his tenure with ONE Championship ended after recent turmoil. The New Jersey native's career then landed back stateside — in a surprising move, Musumeci signed an exclusive deal with UFC Fight Pass.

It's a perfect scenario for Musumeci, who lives in Las Vegas and has already been training at the UFC Performance Institute. The former ONE titleholder recalled meeting UFC CBO Hunter Campbell at the Performance Institute, and the rest was history.

"I feel like I did a very good job of helping our sport grow publicly to a new audience," Musumeci said on Uncrowned's "The Ariel Helwani Show." "Constantly, new people [are] seeing our sport, which is my whole goal. I don't really care about titles or money or things like this. I care about helping our sport grow to the max. That is what's going to give me the most [satisfaction], and our sport having more professionalism. Drug testing — I feel like how horrible it is now that people promote steroids and how fake everyone is, all these shady promoters. I just want to have one professional, legitimate organization where people can just not have to be afraid about budgeting. If it's some weird shady investor that has money, then all of the sudden they go bankrupt, which is common in jiu-jitsu.

"I feel like now with UFC, it was the perfect opportunity and platform for me where I could completely fulfill my heart in jiu-jitsu."

Musumeci's first order of business is to close out 2024 in style with his promotional debut match against Felipe Machado. The Brazilian competitor Machado welcomes "Darth Rigatoni" to the UFC stage when they collide in a highly anticipated matchup at the UFC Fight Pass Invitational 9 on Dec. 9.

Musumeci's deal is exclusive to the UFC, but there is some flexibility should he choose to pursue other venues. More than anything, Musumeci is just excited. In eight successful previous UFC Fight Pass Invitational events, the promotion has brought in the majority of the sport's biggest names. Ranging from Gordon Ryan, "Nicky Rod" Nick Rodriguez and Craig Jones, few haven't wanted to be involved with what the MMA leader is doing in jiu-jitsu.

Because of this, Musumeci foresees the UFC doing the same thing in professional grappling as it did with MMA: take over.

"It's the best deal I've ever had in my life," Musumeci said. "They're really treating me well, and that's why I'm so grateful to them and for what we're going to do for jiu-jitsu. If I'm getting a deal like this, I know many future generations can. I just have to keep staying strong while there's a lot of people that are going to be mad at me for changing what the sport is now. With all these random tournaments and shady promoters, and all these [entities] that promote steroids and all these things — I want it all gone. I want to make this one platform for all of us and I want to legitimize our sport.

"People are going to be mad at me for this, but it takes people hating you. It takes people disliking you to make a difference."

One of the more unique aspects of the UFC Fight Pass Invitational events is how often UFC fighters jump in to compete. It's an open door for cross-sport potential, and Musumeci isn't ruling out the possibility of walking through that door the opposite way and giving MMA real consideration.

"Now I feel that I'm going to be around so many more MMA fighters, I feel like I could definitely have a higher chance of having more training partners for MMA, for wrestling, for all these different things that I lack when I'm only doing jiu-jitsu," Musumeci said.

"I'm so young, my body's so young, I never took steroids so my body's like 21 [or] 20 right now. I really have no injuries, thank God. I have plenty of years that I can venture into MMA with the right guidance, which I'll have, of course. We just have to make sure my standup is blue [or] purple belt [level] so I don't get murdered."

ONE Championship's loss is ultimately UFC's gain regarding the situation surrounding Musumeci's departure.

Musumeci last competed at ONE 167 this past June, continuing his successful 10-match win streak with a calf-slicer finish of Joao Gabriel Sousa. Fast-forward to September and he was supposed to vault up several divisions to take on fellow elite-level grappler Kade Ruotolo for Ruotolo's ONE lightweight grappling title in Denver. Unfortunately, a near-fatal disaster struck.

Ruotolo suffered an injury at the Craig Jones Invitational one month prior that forced his withdrawal and a replacement was sought to face Musumeci. However, Musumeci then dealt with physical ailments of his own, suffering through pneumomediastinum — a lung tear — that prevented him from cutting weight to make his replacement match against Bebeto Oliveira. ONE stripped Musumeci of his flyweight title as a result.

Thankfully, Musumeci didn't compete or he could have died from mid-match complications, he said.

"They said I missed weight, but I couldn't keep cutting," Musumeci explained. "There's nothing I can do when you have a medical condition that stops you from cutting weight.

"I am extremely grateful for what ONE has done for me in my career and everything. Not even ONE, just [founder] Chatri [Sityodtong] in general. I was in ONE because of Chatri. I had a very close friendship with him. He was sort of like a parent to me. I moved to Asia just because of my relationship with Chatri, so I'm extremely grateful for Chatri and what he's done for grappling. He gave grappling a platform you could make money in before anyone else, and we had such amazing memories together.

"However ONE positioned [my departure], I have no opinion on. I'm just full of gratitude to him. Was I a little upset losing my belt? For sure, because I love that belt so much. But it was a part of my journey in life, a part of my path. I am more than just a belt, and I definitely felt that. I had the best intentions doing that match."

After all the drama, Musumeci made it clear he's still on good terms with Sityodtong despite the occasional "dysfunctional family" dynamic they had. Ultimately, his ONE run was on its last legs contractually and UFC is already feeling like a better fit. Not just for Musumeci, but the sport as a whole.

"My contract was coming to an end," Musumeci said. "I just wanted to be back home in the U.S. I love ONE Championship, but I was there because of my relationship with Chatri. He was like a parent to me. He was my closest friend for probably a few years. Then when I decided I wanted to be back in the U.S. close to my family, UFC is 10 to 15 minutes from my house. So it's a no-brainer for me, especially being American, and also what I feel UFC can bring to grappling as well.

"I feel like it's finally another platform that can expand our sport to people that wouldn't typically watch it. It's another platform that will eventually have drug testing as well. Another platform that will make our sport professional instead of all these steroids, all this craziness. I just want a legitimate professional platform for athletes to have, for kids growing up so that they can have a dream of being a professional jiu-jitsu person and they don't have to think of changing careers."