Mikey Musumeci is done chasing gold in UFC BJJ bantamweight, at least for now. The grappling beast has officially vacated his title, and he’s got his eyes set on something a whole lot different: MMA. At 30, Musumeci wants to find out what he can do inside the cage while still keeping his jiu-jitsu game sharp.

“END OF ANOTHER CHAPTER—today I would like to announce that I have decided to vacate my @ufcbjj bantamweight title,” he announced on Instagram.

‘Darth Rigatoni’ explained that he had not lost a match in the category for almost 10 years and had already won every gi and no-gi title he had set out to capture in his career.

“I am 30 years old and have been obsessed with training MMA and want to prioritize my training for MMA,” he wrote. “I train jiu-jitsu every day still and can come back anytime.”

Mikey Musumeci made history on June 25, 2025, by becoming the first-ever UFC BJJ bantamweight champion. He submitted Brazilian grappler Rerisson Gabriel with a heel hook at UFC BJJ 1, adding another milestone to an already stacked grappling resume.

But after spending more than a decade dominating the mats, the 30-year-old is ready to trade title defenses for a shot at MMA. That doesn’t mean fans have seen the last of the American in jiu-jitsu, though. He’s still planning to compete in super fights under the UFC BJJ banner.

“I will continue to do more grappling super fights with UFC BJJ, just a different style of jiu-jitsu, more to get people out of our sport to watch,” Musumeci added. “That means more to me at the point I am in my career.

“I want to thank everyone that has supported me and Claudia Gadelha and Hunter for how kind they have been with me and continue to be. Excited about my next chapter. SO MANY CRAZY THINGS AHEAD.”

‘Darth Rigatoni’ had already teased where his head was at during a September appearance on The Ariel Helwani Show. The grappling star made it clear that MMA wasn’t just some side project he was messing around with; he was hooked and wanted to see just how far he could take it.

“I’m loving the MMA training. I’m addicted to it. I want to see how far I can go,” he said.

UFC BJJ isn’t wasting any time finding Mikey Musumeci’s replacement. His teammate Jalen Fonacier is set to fight Kleber Barboza for the vacant bantamweight title, with Barboza getting thrown straight into a championship bout for his UFC BJJ debut.

The 21-year-old Filipino grappler, meanwhile, has been flawless under the promotion, putting together a perfect 4-0 record. There’s a bit of a twist here, though.

‘Darth Rigatoni’ had previously pushed for UFC BJJ to introduce a flyweight division so Fonacier could compete for gold at a more natural weight. Instead, his teammate now has a shot at claiming the very bantamweight title Musumeci just walked away from.

Mikey Musumeci had already hinted at an MMA move after the Bryce Mitchell match

Mikey Musumeci’s decision comes fresh off his grappling win over Bryce Mitchell on the UFC BJJ mats in Las Vegas.After the match, the 30-year-old spoke to the media about what comes next and hinted that he might be done chasing big title fights for a while as he shifts his focus to MMA.

Turns out, this move has been brewing for some time. ‘Darth Rigatoni’ revealed that he’d been training for MMA for a while and even came close to accepting another grappling match that would’ve forced him to travel and make weight almost immediately after the Mitchell bout.

But he ultimately passed on the opportunity. Instead, he’s putting his energy into sharpening his MMA skills and making a run at the 125-pound division.

“I’ve never lost a match in grappling at that weight class in my life,” Musumeci said of 125 pounds. “I think pound-for-pound, strength-wise, and physically, if I had to choose, I would compete in that weight class.

“MMA is a whole ‘nother animal; I’ll have to start from the very bottom, but I am physically very strong at that weight.”

He also explained that making weight for the Mitchell match had not been particularly difficult.

“This weight class 145lb with Bryce; I actually weighed in under the limit this time at 142lb. So I was under the weight, and it was not even a weight cut for me,” he added.

Mikey Musumeci isn’t exactly leaving jiu-jitsu with unfinished business. The grappling star has already built a stacked resume, collecting major titles across IBJJF, ONE Championship, and UFC BJJ.With so much silverware already under his belt, he’s checked off plenty of his goals in the sport and now seems ready to find out what he can do in MMA.

For all his success, the 30-year-old’s run with UFC BJJ hasn’t been without its fair share of criticism. Across six appearances, including one under the UFC Fight Pass Invitational banner before the rebrand, questions have been raised about whether he was actually getting opponents capable of pushing him to his limits.

Some felt the competition didn’t match his level, with no-gi world champion Shay Montague, who made his name in a lighter division, standing out as one of the few opponents with a serious world-level pedigree. That has fueled criticism that UFC BJJ hasn’t always given its biggest star the toughest matchups available.

Sure, bringing in recognizable names and crossover athletes might help get more eyeballs on the sport, but that doesn’t automatically mean elite grappling fans are getting the high-level contests they want to see. Whether the promotion struck the right balance between attracting casual viewers and testing Mikey Musumeci against top-tier competition is still up for debate.

At this point, ‘Darth Rigatoni’ has earned the freedom to chase something beyond another championship belt. His match against Mitchell showed how much buzz a clash between an elite grappler and a recognizable UFC name can generate, and we could see more of those crossover matchups down the road.

But right now, it’s all about MMA. Mikey Musumeci knows he’ll have to start from the ground up and learn a completely different sport, despite everything he’s accomplished on the mats. He’s not closing the door on a UFC BJJ comeback, either.

For now, though, the bantamweight belt is up for grabs, his teammate has a shot at claiming it, and the 30-year-old is ready to find out just how far his jiu-jitsu can take him inside the cage.