Mikey Musumeci became the first UFC BJJ champion overnight. His press conference appearance presented an interesting picture.
“I could have went to other organizations maybe and done different things just to make a quick payday or things like that, but I wanted to just focus on what would make our sport grow the most and sustainable,”
Musumeci explained during his press conference. His decision to align with UFC BJJ rather than pursue potentially more lucrative opportunities elsewhere reflects a broader vision for jiu-jitsu’s development.
This is interesting and likely comes at the back of ONE FC which treated Musumeci more than almost every other star bar possibly Demetrious Johnson. While he was on ONE FC, Musumeci was fed a string of mismatches designed to build his starpower, received multiple $50K bonuses, was on CEO’s Apprentice and made it quite far, was more active than most of MMA roster during a time of financial struggle.
MMA superstar Shinya Aoki weighed in on Musumeci‘s move overnight feeling bad for Sityodtong despite their own relationship falling apart.
“Musumeci’s brilliant transfer and career move does make me feel a bit sorry for Chatri. But in the end, that’s just how Americans are.”
It’s interesting to see Aoki react in this manner because he’s not exactly friendly with Sityodtong nowadays. Aoki has bemoaned the changing of their relationship after he was booked to face Sage Northcutt despite the glaring age and size discrepancies. The matchup ultimately fell apart.
“We actually making a legitimate thing and dr*g testing everything is starting here,”
Musumeci said.
“People and children that are training in our sport could look at this and be like, ‘Oh, UFC, BJJ, I want to do that one day.’ And they’ll be able to do that. They won’t have to feel like, ‘Oh, will that go out of business? Will that change owners and then we have to go to another organization.'”
Musumeci might be a bit idealistic here. It only takes one second to look at MMA and see the writing on the wall. UFC has no current male US champions due to relatively poor compensation package compared to all mainstream sports. This makes an MMA career unlikely for US citizens with most athleticism. It’s still a viable option for plenty of third world nations due to drastically lower cost of living.
Musumeci claimed his stance hasn’t come without personal cost. He acknowledged facing significant criticism for his choices, stating,
“I got so much hate from people, jealous people, people that have big mouths getting mad at me for doing this, but I know what’s right and what’s wrong, and I know that this is the right path for me.”
The stress of pioneering UFC BJJ has also taken a physical toll, with the champion revealing he’s been dealing with three stomach ulcers since December that haven’t healed due to ongoing pressure.
Beyond business considerations, Musumeci positioned himself as a role model for clean competition.
“I want to just be a person that’s doing things right for others and paving the way for other people to follow the path that I’m doing,”
he explained, specifically mentioning his commitment to competing without PEDs and avoiding compromising “super fights.”
