ONE Championship flyweight submission grappling titleholder Mikey Musumeci recently became embroiled in controversy after being stripped of his belt for missing weight ahead of his upcoming bout.
Musumeci was originally set to challenge lightweight grappling champion Kade Ruotolo in the co-main event of ONE 168: Denver on Friday night. However, in a dramatic twist during fight week, Ruotolo was forced to withdraw due to injury. Consequently, the promotion quickly arranged for reigning IBJJF world champion Carlos Oliveira to step in as a last-minute replacement, facing Musumeci for his flyweight title.
With just three days' notice, “Darth Rigatoni” was tasked with dropping to 135 pounds, a significant cut from the originally planned 170-pound limit. Despite the extreme difficulty of such a rapid weight loss, Musumeci gave it his all. However, at Thursday’s official weigh-in, the 28-year-old New Jersey native came in at 142 pounds, missing the mark by seven pounds.
To make matters worse, he also failed the hydration test, resulting in Musumeci being stripped of his ONE Championship title. The fight will still proceed as a catchweight bout, but now only Oliveira has a chance to win the belt if he secures the victory.
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Musumeci Labels Title Stripping The 'Worst Day' of His Jiu Jitsu Career
After failing to meet the required weight and hydration benchmarks, which resulted in the loss of his title, Musumeci took to Instagram to share his emotional response to the situation. In a heartfelt message, 'Darth Rigatoni' expressed his sincere apologies to both his supporters and Oliveira for missing weight.
"Probably one of the worst days of my life in jiu jitsu,” Musumeci wrote. "I wanted so bad to compete in ONE 168 in Denver. I felt horrible for the fans who were coming to see me, and I felt I was letting them down. I tried to make the championship 135 pounds weight in about 72 hours, but it was too much on short notice after preparing for the Kade match. My body and hydration shut down when I got to 136 [pounds] earlier today.”
"Today I lost my belt, today I let down the fans, and I want to apologize to my opponent Bebeto, someone I respect greatly, for not being able to make the weight. I’m so sorry to everyone, but I gave it my all. But God has everything happen for a reason. I’m so sorry again, everyone.”
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Musumeci is fresh off a dominant first-round submission victory over Gabriel Sousa at ONE 167 this past June. Boasting an undefeated 7-0 record in the promotion, he’s proven himself a force to be reckoned with, maintaining an impressive 71% submission win rate.