Mikey Musumeci says he put in a lot of work to perfect the 'Aoki Lock': "Shinya is not an easy guy to sub"

Reigning and undisputed ONE flyweight submission grappling world champion ‘Darth Rigatoni’ Mikey Musumeci is proud of how his most recent match ended, and for good reason.

It’s not everyday you get to submit an opponent using his own patented move against him. That’s exactly what happened when Musumeci squared off against multiple-time former ONE lightweight MMA world champion and Japanese legend ‘Tobikan Judan’ Shinya Aoki.

Musumeci locked horns with Aoki in an openweight submission grappling contest at ONE Fight Night 15: Le vs. Freymanov on Prime Video, which took place at the iconic Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand last October.

‘Darth Rigatoni’ made Aoki look like easy work, as the 27-year-old Italian-American superstar finished ‘Tobikan Judan’ with his patented ‘Aoki Lock’ in just over three minutes into the match. The ‘Aoki Lock’ is a modified heel hook that Aoki concocted himself.

Speaking to the South China Morning Post in a recent interview, Musumeci gave props to the former lightweight MMA king and said facing off against him was not an easy thing to do.

The Evolve MMA representative said:

“I've been working very hard in Asia and that's why I was able to beat Shinya the way I did, you know. Shinya is not an easy guy to sub. You know what I mean? Like even Kade fought Shinya and couldn’t submit him, you know.”

Musumeci has been absolutely incredible during his time in ONE Championship, having now won all six of his grappling matches in the world’s largest martial arts organization. ‘Darth Rigatoni’ has defeated judo, MMA, and BJJ world champions in his inspiring run through the ranks.

What’s next for the Italian-American icon? Well, the 27-year-old has been dabbling in Muay Thai a lot lately, even training with fighters like former ONE bantamweight Muay Thai world champion Nong-O Hama and former ONE featherweight kickboxing world champion Superbon Singha Mawynn.

Could Musumeci be brushing up on his striking skills for a potential transition to MMA? It’s certainly possible. We will have to wait and see to find out.