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Croatian MMA superstar Roberto ‘Robocob’ Soldic won’t miss a second of Mikey “Darth Rigatoni” Musumeci’s next submission grappling battle.

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This Friday, at ONE Fight Night 15: Le vs. Freymanov on Prime Video, the reigning ONE Flyweight Submission Grappling World Champion will square off with Japanese MMA icon Shinya ‘Tobikan Judan’ Aoki in a 10-minute, submission-only openweight clash that has ground fighting fans salivating.

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Roberto Soldic predicts Mikey Musumeci over Shinya Aoki

Set to air live in North American primetime from the Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, that matchup will be Musumeci’s chance to once again showcase his incredible Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu technique, this time against a significantly larger opponent. While he’s world-renowned for his elite technical prowess, Soldic has firsthand knowledge of the BJJ phenom’s remarkable physical attributes.

He said: “I see Mikey winning because he’s also strong. I did some clinching with him in Doha [Qatar]. We joked around a little bit, and I saw that, for his weight, he’s really strong in the clinch and full of technique.”

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Read More: “We Are Not Going to a Decision” – Thanh Le Eyeing Finish in His Upcoming Clash Against Ilya Freymanov for the ONE Interim Featherweight MMA World Title

‘Robocop’ might be one of the most explosive knockout artists ever seen in MMA, but he can still appreciate the finer points of world-class submission grappling.

The Croatian has a grim prediction for the grappler

With that in mind, he’s confidently picking Musumeci on Friday night: “It’s nice to watch this. You can enjoy what is real. I like grappling, and it’s really hard. It’s really crazy the things that Mikey does and how he’s so calm. He’s a legend in this sport. I don’t see Mikey losing this fight.”

Read More: 4 Fighters Who Have the Most To Gain at ONE Fight Night 15

What’s more, Soldic sees ‘Darth Rigatoni’ securing another submission against Aoki, extending his finishing streak to three straight. The keys, says the Croatian, is Musumeci’s dynamic and dangerous submission ability in seemingly every position: “I think Mikey is gonna finish him. This is my prediction because he was born for this sport. He’s very, very dangerous. Triangle, leg locks, rear-naked choke, everything. In every position, he’s a finisher.”

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Aditya Vaibhav

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Aditya Vaibhav is a UFC writer at EssentiallySports. Aditya’s love for MMA started watching Chuck Liddell in 2009. Since then, he has also come to admire the likes of Carlos Condit and Chris Weidman. Having worked as a writer covering MMA before, Aditya brings reliable reporting to his readers, with educated and impartial opinions on various stories from the MMA sphere. Presently, Aditya is keeping a close eye on the rise of Bo Nickal hoping to see moments like Nick Diaz’s callout of GSP from the young middleweight. A huge fan of the Jon Jones vs. Alexander Gustafsson fight, Aditya aims to one day work as a data scientist in MMA media. And to help that dream come to fruition, he currently gets to dig through reader feedback in the form of data, on the articles that he publishes for ES.

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Abhishek Das

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