Mikey Musumeci put his ONE Championship Flyweight Submission Grappling title on the line at ONE Fight Night 6 on January 13th, 2021 and he retained the belt with an incredible performance. One of the most shocking things about the match wasn’t actually how well Musumeci performed though, but how his opponent even managed to survive some of the brutal leg attacks he was using. Musumeci was originally scheduled to defend his title against Sambo world champion Sayan Khertek but after Khertek suffered an injury and had to withdraw from the event, Combat Sambo world champion Gantamur Bayanduuren stepped in to replace him.
Musumeci has always been known for his fantastic straight ankle-locks dating back to when he first started competing at the highest level, and even holds a world record for the fastest finish thanks to them. Over the last few years Musumeci has undergone a massive redevelopment in his skillset though as he’s been adding an entirely new layer to his leg attacks. After the IBJJF legalised heelhooks for no gi competition, Musumeci was encouraged to start adding them to his repertoire. Since then, his performances in no gi competition have reached a whole new level.
He became the very first ONE Championship submission grappling titleholder by defeating Cleber Sousa by decision back at ONE on Prime Video 2, and its clear that he was hungry for the finish coming into his first title-defence. Mikey Musumeci immediately got to work attacking Gantamur Bayanduuren‘s legs at ONE Fight Night 6 and there were several moments where it was obvious that he was causing some significant damage. It’s easy to imagine that the majority of competitors out there would have tapped at a few different points during the match but Bayanduuren toughed it out for the full ten minutes.
In the end he didn’t get anything for his remarkable resilience as Musumeci won by unanimous decision and kept his title. Musumeci wasn’t the only American grappler who put in an impressive performance at the event either, as Garry Tonon got back in the win column by submitting Johnny Nunez in his return to MMA earlier in the night. A short clip of one of the most brutal leg attacks that Mikey Musumeci used against Gantamur Bayanduuren at ONE Fight Night 6 was uploaded to the promotion’s official Instagram account:
