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Tammi Musumeci, sister of ONE flyweight submission grappling world champion Mikey Musumeci, made a successful ONE debut last weekend at ONE Fight Night 8. The older Musumeci narrowly beat fellow BJJ world champion Bianca Basilio in a hotly-contested grappling bout.
When the results were announced, Tammi Musumeci looked surprised as if she had just won the lottery. Still, it was a hard-fought and well-deserved victory in her debut on the world stage.
In a well-written Instagram post by Mikey Musumeci, the ONE flyweight submission king congratulated his older sister in the sweetest way possible:
"Tammi wins her @onechampionship debut!!!! So freaking proud of her. 😭She wakes up 4:30 am everyday to do cardio before working as a lawyer, does stairs in the middle of the day at her job, and then trains at night immediately after work!"
"No one works harder than my sister. She inspires me so much. Can’t wait for us to be on the same card together ❤️. I want to thank @rlo702jj for helping her prepare while I was overseas; he is an amazing coach and friend."
When the bright lights come on and the fighters come out to battle, we see something special. We see two warriors leave everything on the line to achieve glory in ways most of us will never understand. That's why we love watching this sport.
What we don't see, however, is the hundreds, even thousands, of hours they spend training and honing their skills in order to dazzle us when the bell rings. The sacrifices and hard work can be unforgiving and painful, but the rewards can last forever. Mikey Musumeci and his sister Tammi understand this more than anyone, being a pro grappler and an attorney at the same time.
Tammi Musumeci, sister of Mikey Musumeci, narrowly beats Bianca Basilio at ONE Fight Night 8
In one of the closest and most competitive bouts in ONE submission grappling, multi-time No-Gi BJJ world champion Tammi Musumeci earned a unanimous decision win over fellow world champ Bianca Basilio. In her corner was her brother, ONE flyweight submission grappling world champion Mikey Musumeci.
Opening the lead card of ONE Fight Night 8, Musumeci and Basilio came out aggressively hand-fighting in the center of the Circle. Musumeci started pulling guard and working on her submission game while Basilio masterfully escaped all her entries.
The two largely canceled each other out, though it was mostly Musumeci initiating the entanglements. She did, however, get a stern warning from the referee for pulling guard as it is not allowed under ONE Championship rules.
With Musumeci's main attack being hunting for leglocks on her back, removing the butt-scoot and pull guard techniques largely affected her attacking game. Still, the older Musumeci tried to press the action while her Brazilian foe defended perfectly.
In the end, with no submission or legitimate submission attempts scored by either fighter, it was the judges' decision to hand Musumeci a close win. It must have been her aggression and willingness to engage that edged out Basilio's defense-centric game.
