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Last weekend at ONE Fight Night 6, ONE flyweight submission grappling world champion Mikey Musumeci defended his belt for the first time.
Against promotional newcomer and sambo world champion Gandumur Bayanduuren, 'Darth Rigatoni' showed the world why he's one of the most dangerous grapplers alive today.
Right from the get-go, Mikey Musumeci went into attack mode, trapping an arm and then transitioning to a leglock once Bayanduuren escaped the initial submission attempt. What happened next was something even our extensive background in watching grappling matches could never prepare us for.
Musumeci locked in his patented 'Mikey Lock', forcing Bayanduuren's foot into excruciating positions. After the Mongolian toughed his way out of the lock, 'Darth Rigatoni' swiftly transitioned the attack into various kneebars and heel hook submissions.
It was clear how contorted Bayanduuren's leg looked and how his knee cap seemed to have been twisted out of position. It was excruciating to even just watch.
While Mikey Musumeci showed that his leg-lock wizardry is second to none, a huge part of the story was Bayanduuren's stoic sense of unshakable toughness. The man didn't even flinch.
In his post-fight interview after winning the bout via unanimous decision, Mikey Musumeci spoke about Bayanduuren's refusal to tap:
"His [Bayanduuren's] leg popped like 20 times, I never felt someone's legs go like that. But he didn't tap so the fight kept going on."
There were moments when Musumeci would look at the crowd in utter confusion as to why Bayanduuren hadn't tapped yet. We're just as confused as he was.
Mikey Musumeci addressed the one flaw about his grappling game
During the same in-circle interview with ONE commentator Mitch Chilson, it was pointed out that one of Mikey Musumeci's flaws was how he would go into "tunnel vision" in a match. That's when he would hyper-focus on one attack and would forget other possible offensive opportunities.
Musumeci replied with:
"Usually I get tunnel vision on the move and then I get stuck there. But this time is like it kept popping. So I felt like, ‘How do I let go of a submission that keeps popping?' But I should have let go faster and gone to the back like I did eventually."
Going tunnel vision in one move despite not getting any success is one thing, but if that move is causing an opponent's knee to pop multiple times already, then it's hard to let go. With that, it's more of Bayanduuren's toughness than Musumeci's flaw.
The American BJJ black belt eventually did let go of the leg and took the back late in the bout. If he had half a minute more, Musumeci could have locked in a rear-naked choke, too.
