Mikey Musumeci has just announced that he has now left ONE Championship and will no longer be competing for the promotion. It’s surprising news given that Musumeci has been one of the most prominent figures in their submission grappling divisions and was also their longest-reigning champion to date. He was actually one of the first big BJJ stars to sign an exclusive contract with ONE Championship, as he put pen to paper all the way back in the beginning of 2022. He made his debut just a month later at ONE 156 and it was a sign of things to come, as he submitted Masakazu Imanari and won a $50,000 ‘Performance of the Night’ bonus.
Showing his dedication to the promotion, Musumeci even moved to Singapore to train at Evolve MMA. That was the start of a long and fruitful relationship between Musumeci and ONE Championship, and his very next match at ONE on Prime Video 2 saw him become the inaugural flyweight champion. Although that was his last match in 2022, he wasted no time in putting his belt on the line the following year. Musumeci started off 2023 by beating Gantamur Bayanduuren with some devastating leg attacks at ONE Fight Night 6 to retain his title, and he continued down that path for the rest of the year.
Musumeci submitted Osamah Almarwai at ONE Fight Night 10 before taking on a whole new challenge in his next match. Instead of facing a fellow grappler, Musumeci’s next title-defense at ONE Fight Night 13 saw him submitting the ONE flyweight MMA champion Jarred Brooks instead. He finished 2023 off strong as well, facing a legend of the sport in a non-title bout for his fourth and final match of the year. Musumeci submitted Shinya Aoki with his own submission, the Aoki Lock, at ONE Fight Night 16 and made headlines in the process thanks to the incredible display of technique.
His most recent scheduled appearance ended in controversy though, as he was stripped of the flyweight title after missing weight for a last-minute replacement match. Now Mikey Musumeci will no longer be competing for ONE Championship and he will no doubt be sorely missed by the promotion. It isn’t clear yet where he’ll be competing next but if he’s now completely out of the exclusive contract that they use then the world is essentially his oyster. Musumeci will be free to take any matches he chooses for other major promotions like Who’s Number One or Polaris, or even to return to one of the biggest tournament organizations in the sport.
Mikey Musumeci announced the news that he would no longer be competing for ONE Championship in a recent post to his official Instagram account:
