As Mikey “Darth Rigatoni” Musumeci prepares to battle Cleber Sousa for the first-ever ONE Flyweight Submission Grappling World Championship, he recognizes the responsibility he has to the global jiu-jitsu community.

When he steps into the ONE Circle on Friday, he’ll do so in front of a massive North American primetime audience on streaming giant Prime Video.

Mikey Musumeci’s comment about ONE Championship

The five-time IBJJF World Champion has been practicing, competing in, and perfecting Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu his entire life, but he’s never experienced anything like the ONE Championship and the stage it provides to showcase his art.

“This is the biggest platform jiu-jitsu has ever seen,” Musumeci said. “ONE has the most viewership. Like on Facebook, it’s the size of NBA.”

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Indeed, Musumeci’s promotional debut at ONE 156 this past April – a rear-naked choke win over Masakazu Imanari – is one of the most watched submission grappling matches in history.

The American’s showdown against Sousa at ONE on Prime Video 2 this Friday could easily eclipse that in terms of viewership.

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With his World Title contest serving as a co-main event on one of the promotion’s biggest cards ever, “Darth Rigatoni” is well aware of the worldwide audience that will be watching. For many fans, it could be their first exposure to submission grappling.

Mikey Musumeci believes ONE is the biggest platform for martial arts

The New Jersey native understands his obligation to put on a show, to prove BJJ’s staying power as a top spectator sport.

“Has jiu-jitsu ever seen anything this big before? Never,” Musumeci said.

“Being on a platform with so many other martial arts like mixed martial arts, Muay Thai, and kickboxing, we’re getting fans that would never watch jiu-jitsu in their life to see a jiu-jitsu match. And they can appreciate it.”

“But it also creates a big responsibility to me and Cleber because it’s the first match for the belt. So, it can’t be boring. It can’t be a match where people that are watching don’t want to watch. We have to make it where all audiences could appreciate and enjoy the martial arts in the match.”

Musumeci is determined to spread his passion for jiu-jitsu in an effort to create more opportunities for athletes like himself so they could make a living doing what they love.

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“I’m really excited for that opportunity to represent jiu-jitsu and to help it grow so the next generation has this in their life,” he added.