Mikey Musumeci vows to do what Kade Ruotolo could not and submit Shinya Aoki

One of the best grappling submission athletes today is ONE flyweight submission grappling world champion Mikey Musumeci, who tore up the competition under the world’s largest martial arts organization by beating every opponent placed in front of him.

His most recent victory against ONE strawweight MMA world champion Jarred Brooks at ONE Fight Night 13 last August 4 cemented his status as the top pound-for-pound grappler on the planet. ‘Darth Rigatoni’, though, isn’t satisfied with his success just yet.

The 27-year-old grappling phenom will defy the odds against former ONE lightweight world champion Shinya Aoki in an openweight submission grappling match that goes down on October 6 at ONE Fight Night 15 inside the iconic Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.

Aside from the BJJ and judo black belts that Aoki has, which are backed up by 10 submission victories under ONE, there will be a significant 35-pound gap between Musumeci and the Japanese legend. However, the Evolve MMA representative isn’t fazed by the daunting task ahead.

In his most recent ONE Championship interview, the multiple-time IBJJF world champion had one goal in mind: to finish and submit Aoki in their match, something that Kade Routolo, the reigning ONE lightweight submission grappling world champion, wasn’t able to accomplish.

Musumeci said:

"Kade Ruotolo, the 170-pound champion, fought him and couldn’t finish. So I’m going up in weight and fighting a guy that the champion couldn’t finish."

A victory for Musumeci, especially via submission, will further boost his stock and popularity in the combat sports community.

ONE Fight Night 15: Tawanchai vs. Superbon is free for Prime Video subscribers in North America.