Carlos ‘Bebeto’ Oliveira has just stepped in to challenge Mikey Musumeci for his flyweight title on just a few day’s notice at ONE 168 on September 6th, 2024. It will be the first time that Oliveira has ever competed for ONE Championship and he’s getting thrown in the deep end immediately, facing the best they have to offer with no time to prepare. Musumeci was originally supposed to be facing Kade Ruotolo for his lightweight title in the promotion’s first submission grappling champion vs champion match, but that fell apart just a few days ago. Ruotolo announced that he was injured and could no longer compete, leaving Musumeci without an opponent.
The promotion had to act very fast to keep Musumeci on the card, and they’ve done a fantastic job of matchmaking with the limited time they had. Not only did they get Mikey Musumeci to agree to move back down to his original weight class, but Carlos ‘Bebeto’ Oliveira is also one of the best challengers for him at flyweight. Oliveira is the reigning IBJJF World Championship and he even continued that run of success further after winning that title by adding the IBJJF Master World Championship to his collection too. Either one of these titles would be a great achievement but Oliveira actually became the first person to win both in the same year.
The two men do have some history with one another as well, as they have actually met once before in gi competition. They first crossed paths in the opening round of the IBJJF World Championship back in 2021, where Musumeci submitted Oliveira with a straight ankle-lock before going on to win his fourth world title. A lot has changed in the years since then of course, particularly for Oliveira who has reached a whole new level in his career. Musumeci has had plenty of success too, becoming the ONE flyweight champion and defending his title multiple times over the last few years.
ONE Championship announced the news that Carlos ‘Bebeto’ Oliveira was stepping in on short notice to face Mikey Musumeci at ONE 168 in a recent post to their official Instagram account:
