Mikey Musumeci just earned one of the biggest paydays in professional grappling history as he was awarded a $50k performance bonus for submitting Masakazu Imanari in stunning fashion at ONE 156. Imanari was announced as the first opponent that Musumeci would be facing after he signed a contract with ONE Championship and fans were no doubt excited by the prospect of seeing one of the sport’s top lighter weight competitors taking on a legend of Japanese MMA and BJJ. Not just that, but Imanari is a world-renowned leglock specialist and Musumeci has been vocal about the fact that heelhooks are a huge focus of his recent training as he gets ready to compete under the updated ruleset of the IBJJF world championships, and at ADCC 2022.
It didn’t take long at all for the battle between the two to drift towards leglocks and both men showed their elite proficiency but neither one could actually secure the finish. In the end, Musumeci actually used the leg entanglement that Imanari had on him as a route to his opponent’s back instead and once there it seemed like it was just a matter of time. Musumeci trapped one of Imanari’s arms and locked up the rear-naked choke to force the tap and earn one of only a small number of $50,000 performance bonuses available at ONE 156.
ONE 156 Full Results
Kickboxing – Regian Eersel defeats Arian Sadikovic via Decision – Unanimous
Muay Thai – Smilla Sundell defeats Jackie Buntan via Decision – Unanimous
MMA – Jarred Brooks defeats Bokang Masunyane via Submission – Rear-naked Choke (Round 1, 4:39)
Muay Thai – Liam Harrison defeats Muangthai PK.Saenchai via TKO – Punches (Round 1, 2:19)
MMA – Song Min Jong defeats Chen Rui via Submission – Rear-naked Choke (Round 2, 4:26)
MMA – Danial Williams defeats Namiki Kawahara via Decision – Unanimous
MMA – Gustavo Balart defeats Yosuke Saruta via Decision – Unanimous
Kickboxing – Andrei Stoica defeats Giannis Stoforidis via Decision – Majority
Muay Thai – Anissa Meksen defeats Marie Ruumet via Decision – Unanimous
MMA – Windson Ramos defeats Woo Sung Hoon via Decision – Unanimous
MMA – Dayane Cardoso defeats Ayaka Miura via TKO – Punches (Round 2, 0:56)
MMA – Abraao Amorim defeats Dae Sung Park via TKO – Punches (Round 2, 1:20)
MMA – Jin Tae Ho defeats Agilan Thani via Submission – Kimura (Round 1, 2:23)
Submission Grappling – Mikey Musumeci defeats Masakazu Imanari via Submission – Rear-naked Choke (4:09)
MMA – Keanu Subba defeats James Yang via Decision – Unanimous
The news of Mikey Musumeci submitting Masakazu Imanari at ONE 156 and being awarded the $50k performance bonus in a post to the promotion’s official Instagram account:
