As Mikey Musumeci gears up for his high-stakes showdown at ONE 168: Denver on September 6, his focus is not solely on the formidable challenge ahead.
The reigning ONE Flyweight Submission Grappling World Champion moves up three divisions higher in a bid to take away the lightweight crown from Kade Ruotolo. This 10-minute duel takes place at Ball Arena in Denver, Colorado.
This encounter promises to be a monumental clash. Both are exceptional natural athletes in a sport increasingly marred by concerns over performance-enhancing drugs.
“Darth Rigatoni” has long been an outspoken critic of steroid use in “the gentle art.” His advocacy is not just a personal crusade but a significant part of his broader mission to preserve the integrity of the sport he holds dear.
“I’m constantly thinking how I could have a positive effect on society and how I could help people. I do feel like I’m in a very hard sport of jiu-jitsu where it’s still normalized taking drugs and steroids,” Musumeci said.
“Any other sport, baseball, football, soccer, any other sport, this would be ridiculous. But in our sport, ‘Oh, everyone’s on it. It doesn’t matter.’ So I feel like I’m in the position where I’m able to show, yes, there are people on steroids, but not everyone’s on it.”
While ONE Championship enforces a stringent anti-steroid policy, the broader Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu community has struggled with the rampant misuse of PEDs.
Still, Musumeci views steroids as a form of cheating at best and a serious health risk at worst.
“That mindset of ‘everyone’s on it, you can do it too’ is wrong. You’re cheating,” he said. “It’s simple as that. So that’s something I really hope in my lifetime I’m able to get to support the change.”
