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Mikey Musumeci Details Injury That Nearly Ended His Career: “My Lung Would Have Collapsed.”

Mikey Musumeci Details Injury That Nearly Ended His Career: "My Lung Would Have Collapsed." Mikey Musumeci shared the alarming details surrounding the injury that took him out of ONE Championship’s return to ‘The…

Mikey Musumeci shared the alarming details surrounding the injury that took him out of ONE Championship’s return to ‘The Mile High City’ in September.

Reigning as the ONE flyweight submission grappling world champion, Musumeci was scheduled to square off with ADCC and CJI Invitational winner Kade Ruotolo at ONE 168. Unfortunately, Ruotolo was forced to bow out of the bout after sustaining injuries during his $1 million run at the inaugural Craig Jones Invitational weeks earlier.

As a result, Musumeci was instead booked to defend his flyweight title against Bebeto Oliveira at the event. The only problem was, ‘Darth Rigatoni’ was never scheduled to defend his title. Instead, he was scheduled to move up three weight classes and challenge Ruotolo for his ONE lightweight submission grappling crown.

Mikey Musumeci flips the switch on Gabriel Sousa at ONE 167 scaled 1

With a new opponent and only a week to cut a whopping 35 pounds, Musumeci immediately got to work. Unfortunately, he’d never make it to fight night. Musumeci missed weight and was subsequently stripped of his flyweight title. Weeks later, he exited ONE Championship.

Appearing on The Ariel Helwani Show, Musumeci shed some light on the situation and revealed that he was suffering from a very rare and life threatening illness while trying to cut the weight for ONE 168.

“So, basically, they offered me another opponent at 178 pounds,” Musumeci said. “I had to be a minimum of, I believe, like 165 or 160-something, but I walk around a lot lighter. I couldn’t legally make that weight because of the Athletic Commission rules. I told them, ‘I can’t make that weight,’ so I preferred to just stick to my division.

“At the time, I was very light. I could’ve made 135 pounds, no problem. But then the lung injury happened, which none of us knew about at the time. I only had two days to make weight, whereas I usually need at least a week. The night before the match, at weigh-ins, I was 140 pounds hydrated. The fight was set at 135 pounds. That night, I sustained the injury, which turned out to be called pneumomediastinum.

“It’s when your lung tears, and air leaks into your throat. I was trying to sweat and kept telling my friends, ‘What is wrong with my throat? It feels so sore.’ It felt like crispy bubbles in my throat. We all thought I was just dehydrated or dizzy. But I knew something felt off.

“I also tried a different style of cutting weight since I had only two days,” Musumeci continued. “I drank a lot of electrolytes, thinking it would help with the hydration test. In ONE Championship, they use a gravity test to check the sodium level in your urine. If it’s above 1.0250, you fail hydration. I thought drinking electrolytes would keep my levels balanced. But when the lung issue happened, my body shut down. I couldn’t sweat anymore and became super dizzy. My urine had so much sodium from the electrolytes that I couldn’t flush it out, even after drinking three gallons of water. Everything got stuck in my stomach.

“At that point, I felt something was really wrong and decided to go to the hospital. It turned out I was incredibly lucky not to have fought. The doctor said my lung would have collapsed in one minute, and I could have died.”

Mikey Musumeci explains why he left ONE Championship

According to Musumeci, the condition usually accounts for one in every 42,000 hospital cases.

“I was there for three or four days,” Musumeci added. “When I left, I couldn’t elevate my heart rate or breathe heavily for two weeks. Even walking made me feel weird. It was scary.”

Musumeci being forced to cut so much weight in such a short span sparked outrage from fight fans who lambasted ONE Championship for putting the New Jersey native in an almost impossible situation and then proceeded to strip him of his ONE flyweight submission grappling title when he couldn’t hit the mark.

Explaining why he decided to leave ONE, Musumeci appeared to hold no animosity toward the organization or it’s CEO, Chatri Sityodtong, who he describes as a parental figure.

Mikey Musumeci shares his reasoning for leaving One Championship and accepting the unprecedented UFC deal. pic.twitter.com/ymqS1CdFH4

— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) November 19, 2024

Musumeci has since signed a landmark deal with the UFC and is scheduled to make his debut at UFC Fight Pass Invitational 9 on December 5. ‘Darth Rigatoni’ will take on Felipe Machado at the event.

Mikey Musumeci Explains Why he Left ONE for the UFC: “We don’t have to question if they’ll have money a year from now.”

Darth Rigatoni’ Mikey Musumeci was a fan favorite in ONE Championship and a reigning titleholder in their submission grappling…

Darth Rigatoni’ Mikey Musumeci was a fan favorite in ONE Championship and a reigning titleholder in their submission grappling division. The American-Italian grappler walked away from ONE and signed with the UFC.

Mikey Musumeci

It is an interesting signing as Mikey Musumeci does not currently compete in MMA, but the UFC also does not have a submission grappling division. Thus, it may be an indication for the future that the UFC is looking at expanding into Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu competitions.

Musumeci was scheduled to face fellow grappler Kade Ruotolo in a BJJ match but Ruotolo suffered an injury and had to withdraw. ‘Darth Rigatoni’ was then rebooked but at a much lower weight and was forced to cut nearly 30 pounds in just a few days which led to illness. He was unable to make weight and was hospitalized. To add insult to injury, Mikey Musumeci was also stripped of his title due to this incident.

Mikey Musumeci Leaving ONE Championship

Recent news has come out that Mikey Musumeci left ONE Championship and has signed with the UFC. He will be competing at the UFC Fight Pass Invitational 9 grappling event on December 5 against Felipe Machado. The event will be hosted at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.

Speaking in an interview with Ariel Helwani, Mikey Musumeci explained why he left ONE. He said:

“My contract was coming to an end, basically. I just wanted to be back home in the U.S. Again, I love ONE Championship, but I was there because of my relationship with Chatri. He was like a parent to me. He was probably my closest friend for a few years, and that’s why I moved to Asia. Then I decided I wanted to be back in the U.S., close to my family. The UFC is 10 to 15 minutes from my house, so it’s a no-brainer for me, especially being American. I also feel the UFC can bring a lot to grappling. It’s finally another platform that can expand our sport to people who wouldn’t typically watch jiu-jitsu.

“It’s a platform that will eventually have drug testing, a platform that can make our sport professional. Right now, there’s too much with steroids and craziness. I just want a legitimate, professional platform for athletes. For kids growing up, they can dream of being professional jiu-jitsu athletes without thinking about switching careers. The most fulfillment I can have as a person is setting that path for the next generation.

“I have no hard feelings toward ONE. How could I? They helped me grow so much as a person. I’m full of gratitude for Chatri. We were like a dysfunctional family sometimes—disagreements, fights—but at the end of the day, I’m grateful for everything he’s done for me. I’d never speak badly about him.”

On Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu promoters as a whole, he added:

“Of course. I’ll just say broadly—there’s a lot of shadiness and shady promoters who do messed-up things behind the scenes.

“Being in it for so many years, you get burnt out. It doesn’t feel legitimate or professional. You make money here and there, but then a shady arms dealer promotes an event, and suddenly they have money. You make money once, and then it disappears. Is this what we want for the next generation? No. We need a legitimate organization, like MLB, NBA, or NFL, where we don’t have to question if they’ll have money a year from now.“

Mikey Musumeci Explains UFC Signing

A BJJ athlete has never signed a contract with the UFC just to do submission grappling, but Mikey Musumeci has done exactly that. Being friends and meeting Hunter Campbell at the UFC Performance Institute helped this expansion. On why this happened, he explained:

“During that time, I trained in Vegas and was at UFC PI a lot. I met Hunter there; we became good friends, and that’s how the relationship started … They’re trying to take over jiu-jitsu like they did MMA. Their goal is to grow the sport exponentially—grappling leagues, everything.“

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu ace ‘Darth Rigatoni’ Mikey Musumeci may be the start of the UFC’s expansion into the submission grappling world.

Stamp Fairtex Promises a Comeback and Reveals Her 2025 Return Plans After Knee Injury ‘I lost my focus.’

MMA star Stamp Fairtex had to sit out for over a year due to a severe knee injury. Prior…

MMA star Stamp Fairtex had to sit out for over a year due to a severe knee injury. Prior to that, the young fighter had held world titles in MMA, Kickboxing, and Muay Thai in ONE Championship. She is on the recovery trail and is looking to make a comeback in 2025 and has an idea of when she will return to the cage.

Stamp Fairtex Injured

The reigning ONE Women’s Atomweight MMA World Champion Stamp Fairtex suffered a significant knee injury that forced her to withdraw from her scheduled title defense at ONE 167. the partner tried to lift and twist Stamp, but her leg remained on the ground, causing her knee to twist unnaturally and would later require surgery. Stamp Fairtex suffered a torn meniscus in her left knee.

Stamp Fairtex out of ONE Championship fight in June after knee injury 80% of her meniscus is torn off — Image Credit: ONE Championship

On this injury, Stamp explained in a recent interview:

“I was training with my friend, my partner, and we were sparring. She locked me to take my back, and she wanted to lift me. She’s stronger than me, so when she lifted me, my face was still in the car. When she twisted, my knee twisted too, and it got hurt.

“After surgery, it was really, really bad. Like, why? Why did I get hurt? Why did I have to have surgery? I hadn’t fought for a long time—already one year. I couldn’t walk, I couldn’t do the same things as before. Everything felt bad for me.”

Stamp Fairtex Jihin Razzuan ONE on Prime Video 2 1920X1280 34 1200x799 1

Now the Thai-born athlete is in recovery, Stamp added that she misses training. She continued:

“My recovery is going so much better. Now I feel like maybe 65 or 70 percent. I think by December, I can train at 100 percent, or something like that. I’m not back to training 100 percent yet. I’m only doing PT to build the muscle in my knee. That’s it.

“When I see everyone fight, when I see everyone training, I feel like I’m hungry to train again. I’m hungry to fight again. It’s so boring when I’m at my hometown.

“After surgery, I felt like I lost a year. It’s already almost 500 days, and I feel like everything went backward. I lost my skill, I lost my focus. Now, I know I have to build my muscle, focus again, and pay attention when I come back to training. Everyone wants my belt. My opponents are training and improving their skills, but I feel stuck. When I come back, I have to focus, learn more, and update my skills.”

Stamp Fairtex Alyona Rassohyna 1920X1280 EMPOWER 27

Stamp Fairtex Comeback

Being unable to train in the gym, Stamp Fairtex went home to stay with her parents and help on their farm. She began her Muay Thai career when she was still a child as a way to help bring in more money for her family. Now, she has become a star in combat sports having collected gold in Muay Thai, Kickboxing, and, most recently, MMA.

On staying at home, she said:

“I just sleep, don’t do anything. I walk to the Douyin farm, come back, sleep, eat, play on my phone. I really, really miss training, Muay Thai, and MMA. I miss everyone because usually I talk a lot with everyone. But when I’m back home, no one talks to me. I’m really quiet. I talk to my dog, Oli.”

For her next fight in ONE Championship, Stamp Fairtex says that after her knee recovery and hitting the gym, she will be ready to go in April or May 2025. She added:

“Maybe May or April … I feel like I’m falling behind while everyone else is improving their skills, power, and muscle … It’s been one year, and no one has seen me training on social media—just dancing or something. I’m still the same, still funny, but I promise I’m going to come back. I’m 27, and I don’t know how long I’ll fight.

“Now is my time to shine and show everyone who I am. I’ll be back.”

Stamp Fairtex Promises a Comeback and Reveals Her 2025 Return Plans After Knee Injury ‘I lost my focus.’

MMA star Stamp Fairtex had to sit out for over a year due to a severe knee injury. Prior…

Stamp Fairtex Injured

On this injury, Stamp explained in a recent interview:

“I was training with my friend, my partner, and we were sparring. She locked me to take my back, and she wanted to lift me. She’s stronger than me, so when she lifted me, my face was still in the car. When she twisted, my knee twisted too, and it got hurt.

“After surgery, it was really, really bad. Like, why? Why did I get hurt? Why did I have to have surgery? I hadn’t fought for a long time—already one year. I couldn’t walk, I couldn’t do the same things as before. Everything felt bad for me.”

Now the Thai-born athlete is in recovery, Stamp added that she misses training. She continued:

“My recovery is going so much better. Now I feel like maybe 65 or 70 percent. I think by December, I can train at 100 percent, or something like that. I’m not back to training 100 percent yet. I’m only doing PT to build the muscle in my knee. That’s it.

“When I see everyone fight, when I see everyone training, I feel like I’m hungry to train again. I’m hungry to fight again. It’s so boring when I’m at my hometown.

“After surgery, I felt like I lost a year. It’s already almost 500 days, and I feel like everything went backward. I lost my skill, I lost my focus. Now, I know I have to build my muscle, focus again, and pay attention when I come back to training. Everyone wants my belt. My opponents are training and improving their skills, but I feel stuck. When I come back, I have to focus, learn more, and update my skills.”

Stamp Fairtex Comeback

On staying at home, she said:

“I just sleep, don’t do anything. I walk to the Douyin farm, come back, sleep, eat, play on my phone. I really, really miss training, Muay Thai, and MMA. I miss everyone because usually I talk a lot with everyone. But when I’m back home, no one talks to me. I’m really quiet. I talk to my dog, Oli.”

For her next fight in ONE Championship, Stamp Fairtex says that after her knee recovery and hitting the gym, she will be ready to go in April or May 2025. She added:

“Maybe May or April … I feel like I’m falling behind while everyone else is improving their skills, power, and muscle … It’s been one year, and no one has seen me training on social media—just dancing or something. I’m still the same, still funny, but I promise I’m going to come back. I’m 27, and I don’t know how long I’ll fight.

“Now is my time to shine and show everyone who I am. I’ll be back.”

Oumar ‘Reug Reug’ Kane Stuns Anatoly Malykhin, Takes Heavyweight Title via Split Decision – ONE 169 Highlights

Senegalese sensation Oumar ‘Reug Reug’ Kane shocked the world at ONE 169 in Bangkok, scoring a split decision victory…

Senegalese sensation Oumar ‘Reug Reug’ Kane shocked the world at ONE 169 in Bangkok, scoring a split decision victory over Anatoly Malykhin to claim the ONE heavyweight title.

Things got off to a smashing start for Kane in the opening round as he quickly took Malykhin to the mat — becoming the first fighter to ever do so inside the Circle — and promptly ragdolling him. However, Malykhin made a habit out of putting his arm over the ring ropes to stay upright which is akin to grabbing the cage in a more traditional MMA setting.

That prompted referee Herb Dean to issue a strong warning that eventually resulted in a yellow card when Malykhin did it a second time.

Despite the early setback, Malykhin appeared to be in control for much of the last three rounds, continuously cornering ‘Reug Reug’ and landing a few big blows before fishing for a takedown he’d never quite land. Dean stayed busy by breaking the fighters up every couple of minutes, but before long, they’d end up back in the same position. Things went that way for much of the final 10 minutes, leading many to believe that Malykhin’s aggression and control time would ultimately win him the fight after going the distance for the first time in his career.

Instead, the judges in Bangkok threw fight fans for a loop, crowning Kane the new ONE heavyweight king via a somewhat controversial split decision.

Official Result: Oumar ‘Reug Reug’ Kane def. Anatoly Malykhin via split decision to win the ONE heavyweight world championship.

With the win, Kane becomes ONE Championship’s first African-born titleholder.

Meanwhile, Anatoly Malykhin suffered the first loss of his career, falling to 14-1 and seeing his coveted status as MMA’s first and only simultaneous three-division champion disappear. Still, ‘Sladkiy’ has both the ONE light heavyweight and middleweight world titles — two belts with plenty of challengers chomping at the bit to challenge the Russian juggernaut.

Check out highlights from Anatoly Malykin vs. Oumar ‘Reug Reug’ Kane at ONE 169:

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Reug Reug wins a split decision over Anatoly Malykhin.

And new ONE heavyweight MMA champ. Big shock at Lumpinee Stadium.

Yellow card in the first round cost Malykhin big.#ONEChampionship #ONE169 pic.twitter.com/G4dBsWkcUY

— Nicolas Atkin (@nicatkinONE) November 9, 2024

Reug Reug defeats Malykhin via split decision

How did this go the distance… #ONE169 pic.twitter.com/feGV9kiTwQ

— Delinquent MMA (@DelinquentMMA) November 9, 2024

Rodtang Smashes Through Jacob Smith, Vows to Reclaim Flyweight Title After Weight Miss – ONE 169 Highlights

Rodtang Jitmuangnon scored another dominant victory against British standout Jacob Smith on Friday night in the ONE 169 co-main…

Rodtang Jitmuangnon scored another dominant victory against British standout Jacob Smith on Friday night in the ONE 169 co-main event.

After seemingly fighting the first round on autopilot, Rodtang started to pick things up in the second, showing flashes of his larger-than-life personality. Unfortunately, that typically spells disaster for his opponents.

Like their first fight in May 2022, Smith was more than willing to engage with ‘The Iron Man’ and go toe-to-toe, but that decision cost him big in the third round when Rodtang landed a nasty elbow near Smith’s right eye that immediately busted the Brit open and had him quickly retreating. Smith ultimately made it out of the round, but by then, the damage was done.

Things got a little chippy between the two with Smith and the Thai seemingly headbutting one another at one point in the fourth. In a rather hilarious moment, ‘The Iron Man’ put Smith on the mat with a leg kick and then proceeded to kiss him on the top of the head before the fight resumed.

Things sort of went that way during the championship rounds with Rodtang just out there dominating his opponent and having fun every step of the way. To Smith’s credit, he went the full 15 minutes with Rodtang, but in the end, it was another decisive decision victory for the Thai superstar.

Official Result: Rodtang def. Jacob Smith via unanimous decision.

Unfortunately, Rodtang will not leave Lumpinee Stadium with the ONE flyweight Muay Thai world title. ‘The Iron Man’ failed to meet the weight and hydration requirements for their ONE 169 co-main event, meaning only Smith was eligible to win the belt.

Speaking with Mitch Chilson in the ring, ‘The Iron Man’ made it clear that reclaiming the ONE flyweight Muay Thai title is a top priority, but that will come down to whether or not ONE CEO Chatri Sityodtong decides to give him that opportunity.

Check out highlights from Rodtang vs. Jacob Smith at ONE 169:

Rodtang uppercut elbow splits Smith open pic.twitter.com/TVGS2doPTm

— caposa (@Grabaka_Hitman) November 9, 2024