This article is part of our Craig Jones Invitational 2024 coverage. To get live results, play by play, and commentary, we’ll have a live updates article running all weekend.
Mikey Musumeci will no longer be featured in a superfight at the Craig Jones Invitational (CJI) and will not be competing at the event at all. The news was announced by the organizer of the tournament, Craig Jones, although there wasn’t any context given. It won’t be long before some more light is shed on the situation though, as Musumeci has another matchup on the horizon as well. Just a little over two weeks after CJI takes place, Musumeci is due to challenge Kade Ruotolo at ONE 168 with the promotion’s lightweight title on the line.
If this withdrawal is due to an injury that Musumeci has suffered then there’s a good chance that match against Kade Ruotolo doesn’t go ahead either. There are plenty of other potential explanations flying around though, including the idea that perhaps CJI were unable to find him a suitable opponent. With around 6 weeks left before the event takes place and no opponent announced as yet, that is one theory that could prove true. Either way, It’s unclear what has led to the withdrawal at this stage and there’s no news on whether his unannounced opponent will get a new match instead.
Now fans will have to go back to watching Mikey Musumeci at ONE Championship events instead of CJI, but there’s still plenty of big names competing in the tournament. Both the under 80kg and over 80kg tournament brackets are stacked with elite competitors and there’s also other superfights for the fans to look forward to as well. Mackenzie Dern and Ffion Davies will take part in battle between legends of different generations while the biggest intergender match in the history of the sport will also be taking place, as Gabi Garcia takes on Craig Jones.
Craig Jones announced the news that Mikey Musumeci was out of his superfight at CJI in a recent story that was shared to his official Instagram account:
