Mikey Musumeci has just been voted as the ONE Championship Submission Grappler of the Year for 2023 after a string of impressive performances for the promotion. This is the latest in a long list of fantastic achievements throughout Musumeci’s career and it caps off what has already been a very successful stint with ONE Championship. He came into 2023 off the back of a decent year, as he won all four of his matches in 2022. That included his first two appearances for ONE Championships where he became the inaugural flyweight champion and the first ever Submission Grappling champion, coming into 2023 with huge momentum.
He started out the year with his first title-defense against Gantamur Bayanduuren, where he launched into a series of brutal leg attacks that won him a convincing decision. Although he couldn’t force Bayanduuren to tap, his attacks were so devastating that he caused four separate serious injuries to his opponent. Next was a change of pace from fighting Sambo competitors, as Musumeci took on a representative of his own sport this time around. Musumeci was booked to compete against the reigning IBJJF no gi world champion Osamah Almarwai, and he submitted his opponent with a rear-naked choke to defend his title for the second time.
His next title-defense was another new challenge, as he faced the reigning ONE Championship strawweight MMA world champion Jarred Brooks. He won this match by submission as well, locking up a triangle choke to get the tap this time around. Musumeci’s next match saw him move up in weight to face Shinya Aoki and he actually submitted him with his own technique, the Aoki Lock. This capped off a fantastic year of competition for Musumeci, winning all four of his ONE Championship matches and submitting three of his opponents.
Mikey Musumeci has reached new heights during his time with ONE Championship and it’s no surprise that he’s been voted their Submission Grappler of the Year for 2023. He’s beaten every man they’ve thrown at him and never looked in danger at any point, all while looking as though he still hasn’t had to step things up to his highest gear. He even managed to strike a partnership deal with Meta at the end of the year too, a clear signal that he has grown to become one of the most popular competitors in the sport.
ONE Championship announced the news that Mikey Musumeci had been voted their Submission Grappler of the Year for 2023 in a recent post to their official Instagram account:
