In a fiery segment on The Charles Eoghan Experience podcast, rising jiu-jitsu talent Owen Jones didn’t hold back when discussing Mikey Musumeci‘s role as the so-called face of the sport. The young Welsh grappler questioned Musumeci’s credentials and whether he deserves the spotlight.
“I just don’t like that they’re trying to make him the face of the sport. I just don’t like it. I don’t think he deserves it,” Jones said.
Jones acknowledged Musumeci’s success in the gi but was critical of his no-gi résumé.
“Feel like the face of gi jiu-jitsu fine. He was like very accomplished in the gi. Did a bunch of stuff. No-gi, he actually hasn’t even done anything of that value. Like he’s not beat anybody super high level, right?”
He pointed out that Musumeci’s best win was over Gabriel Sousa, who has split results with him.
“The best guy he’s beat is Gabriel Sousa, but Gabriel is one-on-one with him. So, it’s like cool. Now he’s beating like Rerisson Gabriel, right? I’ve never seen Rerisson Gabriel do no-gi. I don’t even know who he is.”
Jones questioned Musumeci’s leadership role in team events, especially given that both Gordon Ryan and Craig Jones reportedly passed on matches with him.
“Why is he captain of a team? Genuine question,” Jones said.
He suggested Musumeci’s prominence is more about social media than performance.
“Why does he get to do that and I don’t? Because he’s got million followers. That’s why he’s got bare followers from beating scrubs.”
Jones also criticized Musumeci’s inability to finish submissions.
“He has good entries. Very clean entries. I will not take this away from him, but he can’t finish,” he said, referencing struggles against Felipe Machado and others. “Took three rounds to submit a guy who wasn’t even defending.”
He wrapped up with a blunt assessment of Musumeci’s approach.
“He’s just going to cruise, compete against soft opposition, and that’s it. And just keep his glory.”
