In a revealing interview with Ariel Helwani, grappling superstar Mikey Musumeci has opened up about his departure from ONE Championship and his groundbreaking move to the UFC, citing personal reasons and a vision for the future of the sport.
Musumeci explained that his contract with ONE Championship was nearing its conclusion, and he felt a strong desire to return to his roots in the United States. “I just wanted to be back home in the U.S.,” Musumeci shared, noting that the UFC’s proximity to his residence – “ten to fifteen minutes from my house” – made the decision straightforward.
The former ONE Championship athlete emphasized that his initial move to Asia was largely influenced by his close relationship with Chatri Sityodtong, whom he described as “like a parent to me” and “my closest friend probably for like a few years.”
Looking ahead, Musumeci expressed enthusiasm about the UFC’s potential impact on professional grappling. “I feel like it’s finally another platform that could expand our support to people that wouldn’t typically watch jiu-jitsu,” he stated, highlighting his vision for a more professional environment with enhanced PED testing protocols.
Meanwhile, fellow grappler Kade Ruotolo shared his perspective on Musumeci’s departure during a ONE Championship post-event press conference. “Obviously, that’s a pretty big bummer,” Ruotolo remarked, particularly disappointed about a potential match between them that never materialized.
Musumeci maintains there are no hard feelings toward his former promotion. “I’m still good friends with Chatri… I have no hard feelings for ONE. How can I have hard feelings for an organization that helped me grow so much as a person?” he reflected, describing his time with ONE Championship as being part of a “dysfunctional family” that occasionally had disagreements but ultimately fostered growth.
His primary motivation appears to be creating a lasting legacy in the sport. “I feel like the most fulfillment I could have as a person is setting this path for the next generation,” Musumeci explained, emphasizing his desire to establish professional opportunities for aspiring athletes in the grappling world.
Musumeci open to competing in ADCC or other major grappling tournaments in the future, but has reservations about ADCC’s current culture around PED use
“ADCC I don’t really like what it stands for at the moment with the ster*ids all these different things,” Musumeci said. “I just want one Professional Organization for everyone.”
The former ONE Championship grappling champion emphasized his desire to help legitimize and professionalize the sport through proper drug testing and organizational structure. He praised the UFC’s potential to implement similar anti-doping standards as they have in MMA.
“We could really legitimize and professionalize our sport,” Musumeci noted regarding the UFC’s involvement in grappling. “I just want a legitimate professional platform for athletes to have for kids that are growing up so then they could dream of being a professional Jiu-Jitsu person.”
Musumeci expects he will receive a lot of criticism and “hate” from within the jiu-jitsu community for the changes he is trying to implement through the UFC
“I just have to freaking keep staying strong while there’s a lot of people that are going to be mad at me for changing what the sport is now with all these random tournaments and all these shady promoters,” Musumeci said. “I want this all gone. I want to make this one platform for all of us and I want to legitimize our sport and people are going to be mad at me for this.”
“I’m gonna get a lot of hate for changing our sport and I don’t care about the hate,” Musumeci stated. “All I care about is that it goes in the right direction for the next generation so when I die one day I feel I did something good.”
When asked about the financials Musumeci cryptically answered: “All I could say is it’s the best deal I’ve ever had in my life.”
Musumeci is highly critical of the “shadiness” and lack of professionalism in the current jiu-jitsu promotions and landscape
The newly-signed UFC athlete highlighted how many jiu-jitsu promotions lack stability and legitimacy, with events often backed by questionable investors who may suddenly disappear. “In jiu-jitsu there’s a lot of shadiness and a lot of shady promoters that do a lot of messed up things behind the scenes,” Musumeci said. He expressed frustration with the current landscape where “random Shady arms dealers might promote an event” only for the funding to vanish shortly after. Musumeci emphasized this creates an unsustainable and unprofessional environment for athletes.
UFC wants to create a legitimate, professional grappling league with proper PED testing
Musumeci revealed in an interview with Ariel Helwani that the UFC has major ambitions to “take over jiu-jitsu” similar to how they dominated MMA, with plans to establish a full grappling league under their banner. “They’re going to do exactly what they did for MMA,” Musumeci said. “That’s their goal – they want to take over jiu-jitsu. They’re going to have a grappling league.”
We know UFC has a budget, they can finance things – they’re not gonna have budget problems. We know that they can d**g test like they do for MMA. We could really legitimize and professionalize our sport.”
