The co-main event of ONE Fight Night 13 featured a unique contest, as ONE flyweight grappling champion Mikey Musumeci, a.k.a. ‘Darth Rigatoni,’ defended his belt against strawweight MMA champion Jarred ‘The Monkey God’ Brooks.
Although Brooks’ mixed martial arts style is wrestling and grappling heavy, he was seen as a prohibitive underdog in this fight, with odds as steep as +1000 on some sportsbooks. This was due to Musumeci being one of the current best grapplers in the world, arguably the best in the lighter weight classes which are not featured in ADCC. He had won eight straight bouts going into this one and was undefeated in ONE Championship, including two defenses of his submissiong grappling title.
Mikey came out and pressed forward so he could pull guard on the smaller man. Musumeci constantly worked to change the angles and attack grips. He pulled his leg up, seemingly going for rubber guard but then suddenly switched off to a leg attack. Jarred Brooks stayed calm so the leg lock never got tight; he settled back in Musumeci’s guard. Brooks mainly seemed to just want to stay heavy on top but it could not last as Mikey again inverted for a leg lock. Brooks escaped, however, and got back up. Mikey chased him down though and pulled guard so he could invert on a leg lock once more.
The referee called a catch for Musumeci as he attacked it. He could not complete the submission but used it to get on top of Jarred Brooks; then he took the back as Brooks fought to escape. Musumeci locked the body triangle up instantly. Brooks was able to survive for a long time but not do much more, yet that was enough as the referee called a break due to a lack of action. They were back on the feet for only a moment before Musumeci pulled guard again. Mikey worked to create angles and was successfully able to throw up a triangle choke. He tightened it continually but somehow Brooks stayed conscious. Musumeci then worked to attack a straight arm lock on Brooks’ left arm. He gave it up soon but he was too slick and switched to a normal triangle-armbar. Jarred Brooks was forced to tap.
Mikey Musumeci seems unstoppable at 135-lbs in ONE Championship after only three defenses. He gave respect to Jarred Brooks in the post-fight interview, classy as ever. He was slightly put-out by the referee’s choice to stand them up when he had been on Jarred’s back working for a special submission he had been training, but even then he was too nice to blame anyone else, saying he should have been quicker with attacking it. The champion was gifted a performance bonus of $50,000 for yet another submission and then hinted at big things coming in the future which he could not speak about yet.
To close out his time on the mic, Mikey dedicated the fight to his great-aunt Margaret who sadly passed away before this bout. He made sure to get in a greeting in Thai to the Lumpinee stadium crowd before taking his belt and walking off.
Official Result: Mikey Musumeci def. Jarred Brooks by Submission (triangle armbar) 7:30
