Mikey Musumeci was the most disappointed person in the world last weekend after not being able to perform live in front of an American audience, but he is looking at the silver lining of his ordeal.

The then-ONE Flyweight Submission Grappling World Champion was set to take on Bebeto Oliveira in Ball Arena for ONE 168: Denver. The bout was made on short notice following an injury that forced lightweight submission grappling king Kade Ruotolo out of his originally scheduled World Title defense against Musumeci.

Mikey Musumeci’s flyweight title defense falls through due to health issues

After preparing to challenge for the ONE Lightweight Submission Grappling World Title – three weight divisions heavier than his natural weight – it was announced that Musumeci was going to defend his flyweight belt following Ruotolo’s withdrawal.

Sources say that it was the 28-year-old’s personal request to defend his belt instead of facing Oliveira in an openweight contest. It ultimately backfired on “Darth Rigatoni” as he failed weight and hydration and was thus stripped of his belt. While he was still open to competing, it was reported that he was also pulling out just mere hours before the event.

On Instagram, the Evolve MMA and Cobrinha BJJ standout gave an update to fans about his condition, “I just want to thank everyone for the messages and support. I have been in the hospital since early this morning. I have pneumomediastinum, which means I had a tear in my lung Wednesday I believe when I was cutting weight doing rickson diaphragm breathing  (didn’t know this was possible) and air got into my chest and then into my neck,” he wrote on the caption.

Darth Rigatoni’s health scare sobering reminder

He further added, “This is a life threatening condition, and if I would have competed, I could have died the doctor told me. So first I was upset, now I’m full of gratitude to be alive and that I didn’t keep pushing. God protected me ”

While Musumeci and his legions of fans were certainly disappointed with the lack of an incredible submission grappling match at ONE 168, it may just turn out for the better in the long run considering what they discovered in Musumeci. The highest levels of competition require incredible skills and demands a lot in a fighter’s body. Even if the American grappler was willing to sacrifice his well-being to compete, the severity of his condition might have deprived us of more fights from him in the future.

Being a determined world champion, there is no doubt that Musumeci will do everything in his power in order to recover and reclaim his belt and maybe more once he’s ready to compete again. For now, we can only hope that his road to being back to full health has already begun.