“Was disturbing to watch” - Fans react to Mikey Musumeci’s failure to submit his opponent

As Mikey Musumeci torqued the knee of Gantumur Bayanduuren last weekend, the young Mongolian’s resilience made for a painful sight.

Somehow, the challenger lasted to the final bell, surviving leg locks from ONE flyweight submission grappling world champion Mikey Musumeci for ten minutes.

Bayanduuren likely gained as many fans as Musumeci, even in defeat. In a post to ONE Championship’s Instagram, fans gave their reaction to Gantumur’s toughness.

Musumeci literally couldn’t do anything more to submit Gantumur. The Mongolian tore his ACL, MCL, meniscus, and suffered a broken ankle from the leg lock attempts from the world champion.

Reactions among fans were mixed, with some praising Gantumur’s toughness, with others wishing he’d tapped to avoid severely injuring his leg.

While some reactions ilicited respect...

...other fans were shocked...

...and some felt regret

Mikey Musumeci’s dominant win over Bayanduuren Gantumur marked the first defense of his world title since winning it last September. He’s 3-0 for ONE Championship overall.

He was originally set to defend his belt against Sayan Khertek, another sambo specialist. That fight could be on the table for his next world title defense, in addition to an infinite number of grappling standouts from all over the world who are looking to compete in the global stage of ONE Championship.

It’s anyone’s guess who will be signed to make a run for the belt.

Mikey Musumeci open to defending belt against MMA great Demetrius Johnson

Another name thrown around for Mikey Musumeci to compete against is ONE flyweight world champion Demetrious Johnson. “Mighty Mouse”, like Musumeci, is a BJJ black belt and incredible athlete.

After his win over Bayanduuren Gantumur, Mitch Chilson asked Musumeci about potentially fighting Johnson during his in-Circle interview. Here’s what he had to say:

"Oh, yeah, totally. It would be an honor to step in the Circle with that legend. It would be an honor. But whoever ONE has in store for me, I'm ready for you know. Let's see who they want me to compete with, you know."

Johnson was actually working commentary during Musumeci’s fight, and seemed content to let young fighters like Musumeci grapple and tear up knees in the Circle. Perhaps he could be talked into it for the right terms, but he didn’t sound especially excited about submission grappling at the time.

What’s more, is that Johnson is already carrying a lot for ONE Championship at the moment, preparing to headline the promotion’s US debut in May.

He’ll take part in a trilogy fight with Adriano Moraes in the main event after the two have split wins in world title fights. With the three fights taking place in immediate succession, contenders are starting to build in the division like the streaking Kairat Akhmetov and Reece McLaren.

The fight takes place on May 5th in Broomfield, Colorado, for ONE Fight Night 10 on Prime Video.