ONE Championship continues to establish its burgeoning submission grappling division, as the promotion has now booked its first ever submission grappling title match. On Friday, September 30, at ONE on Prime Video 2, Mikey Musumeci will take on Cleber Sousa for the inaugural ONE flyweight submission grappling championship.
ONE founder and CEO Chatri Sityodtong announced the match-up earlier this week.
As Sityodtong explains in his post above, this will be the rubber match between Musumeci and Sousa. The pair went 1-1 against each other in 2017, with Sousa winning the first encounter by decision, and Musumeci winning the second match 2-0.
Mikey Musumeci is widely considered one of the top pound-for-pound grapplers in the world. After winning three gi world championships, Musumeci returned to no-gi competition in 2021, defeating top competitors like Junny Ocasio and Geo Martinez before returning back to gi competition to capture his fourth IBJJF world title in the gi (and his fifth overall).
In April, Musumeci made his ONE Championship debut, submitting MMA legend Masakazu Imanari by rear-naked choke. The win netted Musumeci a $50,000 bonus.
Sousa was a brown belt world champion and is a black belt IBJJF Pans champion. Although he is primarily a gi player, Sousa had a strong showing at both of the most recent ADCC South American Trials where he twice reached the semifinals.
How to watch: ONE on Prime Video 2 will air live on Prime Video on Friday, September 30 at 8 PM ET.
The post Mikey Musumeci vs. Cleber Sousa booked for first ever ONE submission grappling title appeared first on Grappling Insider.The post Mikey Musumeci vs. Cleber Sousa booked for first ever ONE submission grappling title appeared first on Grappling Insider.