ONE Flyweight World Champion Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson may be an absolute wizard on the canvas, but he would approach a showdown with flyweight submission grappling king Mikey “Darth Rigatoni” Musumeci with caution if he were to get a chance to face him. The MMA legend was Circle-side for Musumeci’s first defense of his coveted crown at ONE Fight Night 6: Superbon vs. Allazov on Prime Video last weekend, and he bore witness to the American’s dominant power against a game opponent in Combat Sambo World Champion Gantumur Bayanduuren.

The 26-year-old added a third win to his undefeated run inside the Circle, and Johnson was impressed by his grit and determination to score the unanimous decision victory under difficult conditions.

Demetrious Johnson lauded the wave of submissions brought on by Mikey Musumeci

“The Mikey Musumeci fight, Gantumur [Bayanduuren]’s resilience – his flexibility in his leg – that was absolutely amazing,” he said. Musumeci controlled much of the action in the 10-minute battle at the Impact Arena in Bangkok, Thailand, but he wasn’t the only one who won the hearts of the crowd on the night. Bayanduuren’s durability to survive waves of submission attempts from the World Champion earned him huge respect from everyone in attendance, including “Mighty Mouse.”

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Following the crucial win, Musumeci renewed his polite callout of the flyweight king, making it clear that he wants to pursue a submission-only meeting against Johnson in the Circle. 

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The 36-year-old MMA veteran is open to the bout, but he feels their showdown wouldn’t be as intense as the one he watched last Friday night.

Johnson accepted Musumeci’s callout but predicted a lackluster bout

“I’m probably going to grapple with Mikey Musumeci. I mean, he’s a wizard. We grappled before. I told him, I was like, ‘Dude, once you grab my legs, I’m tapping because I am not going to play that game and test my flexibility,'” Johnson said.

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“I’ve had tears in my LCL and MCL before just fighting in mixed martial arts because my knees are pretty tight. So yeah, I’m totally down to do that. But I’m going to tap extremely fast [if he gets on a leg lock]. I don’t have the resilience that Gantumur has with my knees,” the ONE Flyweight World Champion said.

Musumeci-Johnson would certainly be a crowd-pleaser for martial arts fans if ONE Championship decides to put it together at some point.