“Can’t wait for us to train soon” - Flyweight submission grappling king Mikey Musumeci links up with Hollywood A-lister Tom Hardy

ONE flyweight submission grappling world champion Mikey Musumeci was recently able to catch Hollywood star Tom Hardy on the set of his latest film. And the grappling ace could not hide his excitement.

‘Darth Rigatoni’ took to Instagram and shared a photo of himself with Hardy, who starred in such movies as Venom, Mad Max: Fury Road, and The Dark Knight Rises. The two also share a passion for Brazilian jiu-jitsu, with the 46-year-old actor regularly competing in BJJ tournaments across the United Kingdom.

The 27-year-old ONE champion shared his experience of meeting Hardy, who he hopes to train with at some point, captioning his post with:

“Was so cool having the opportunity to meet the legend @tomhardy yesterday and getting to be on set with him watching him work live! What an incredible experience! Hanging out with him literally in btwn his takes 🤣. What an awesome person! Can’t wait for us to train soon!! 😊”

Mikey Musumeci impressed with Mark Zuckerberg’s dedication to MMA

Connecting with high-profile personalities over martial arts is no longer new to Mikey Musumeci as he has trained with a number of them, including Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

The two occasionally train in BJJ as Zuckerberg hones his skills in MMA. ‘Darth Rigatoni’ has been impressed with the Meta executive’s IQ as a fighter and his dedication to the multifaceted sport of mixed martial arts.

Musumeci shared this in an interview with TMZ Sports back in August:

“We talk frequently. We are always texting each other. And he's texting me this picture of this cage in his backyard. Growing up in New Jersey, we have trampolines and stuff like that in our backyard, right?”

He further added:

“So it has that vibe. And I'm like, What the hell but it's a cage. The f*ck? But it shows. Because the type of person Mark is, is anything he does, he does 100%, right? He doesn't half-ass anything. So he's into MMA, so he's gonna put a fucking cage in his backyard.”

Watch the interview below:

As he continues to connect with high-profile personalities and expand his martial arts network, Mikey Musumeci is still very much active in his ONE Championship journey.

He has successfully defended his world title three times while also taking on other challenges, including in his last fight in October, where he battled and won over Japanese legend Shinya Aoki in an openweight submission grappling contest.