ONE flyweight submission grappling champion Mikey Musumeci has been reflecting on his time spent in Thailand recently. The American star competed in the country in August and October, with wins over Jarred Brooks and Shinya Aoki under the ONE banner, but he also spent time training with some of Muay Thai’s biggest stars.
Musumeci has said that he’s been considering a run in mixed martial arts, but it appears he has also been looking at “the art of eight limbs” too, given his time training at one of the most-renowned gyms for the sport – PK Saenchai.
“My favorite thing when I was living in Thailand the past two months was hanging out at PK Saenchai because it was all up-and-coming, young, hungry fighters, and they were all at the gym grinding together,” Musumeci told ONE.
“So whenever I was there, I would feel their energy of that grinding, tough feeling.”
Training Muay Thai each day ignited the passion “Darth Rigatoni” has for grappling.
He brings enthusiasm with him every time he steps onto the mats, and he enoyed the intensity levels that he and his team hit every day while working on their stirking skills.
“While you’re dying and suffering [in Muay Thai training], everyone else is too, so it builds that camaraderie. You’re dying, but it’s a vibe of everyone dying together, so it’s not as hard, and you feel hungry. Everyone is showing up every day to train, so why are you not? You should be there also, so it makes you motivated,” Musumeci said.
“I love the energy of the Muay Thai people, and I try to have that energy with jiu-jitsu.”
Although Musumeci is working on his standup, he is still primarily focused on staying at the top of the BJJ world, and he feels his time in Thailand has helped him find new areas of focus.
After experiencing the torrid pace of striking, the flyweight submission grappling king is ready to return to integrate what he has learned into his grappling training.
“Muay Thai is the best for conditioning. So that’s my next secret that I’m gonna use for my conditioning for jiu-jitsu. You do Muay Thai, and then jiu-jitsu feels like the easiest thing ever,” Musumeci claimed.
“Dude, you die. It’s like pure power and sprints. Every punch and kick is 100-percent power. So then you do jiu-jitsu training, and you’re laughing. There’s nothing harder than that on your body.”
While Musumeci has no bout on the books as of yet, it is clear he is staying ready for whenever his next challenge will come. As one of ONE’s biggest stars, he will be back sooner rather than later.