LAS VEGAS – With the help of the UFC, Mikey Musumeci wants grappling to become a cleaner sport.
Musumeci spent years competing for ONE Championship, before signing an exclusive deal to compete under the UFC banner. His first match takes place Thursday in the UFC Fight Pass Invitational 9 main event against Felipe Machado.
“I feel like what I’m doing right now is definitely the most important thing for grappling in terms of having a stable platform,” Musumeci told MMA Junkie and other reporters at Wednesday’s UFC 310 media day. “I feel like a lot of jiu-jitsu right now is very unstable. There’s a lot of horrible ethics, morals, and I hope now that with the UFC we can change that and we make it a professional sport.
“It hasn’t been a professional sport, jiu-jitsu, with people blatantly using PEDs. They’re not athletes. They really don’t have the values of martial artists. So I really just want to change that and give us this platform at UFC and become professionals.”
Just like the UFC implements strict drug-testing rules for it’s fighters, Musumeci wants to see the same with jiu-jitsu, and have the promotion help weed out all those competing with an unfair advantage.
“I need to first grow us and UFC to the point where we are professional athletes,” Musumeci said. “What does that look like to me? That looks like we have belts, we have everything just like MMA fighters – drug testing and belts and stability. We need drug testing.
“Completely make Darwinism with the people on steroids that they have to just get off, and they either die (without the help) or they adapt. Then the next generation realizes they can’t just start steroids when they’re like 10 years old. I want to change that. That will give me the most fulfillment.”
When asked who he thinks the UFC should also sign to an exclusive grappling deal, Musumeci said preferably clean athletes.
“People not on steroids (is who I want to grapple),” Musumeci said. “That’s pretty much what I would say, but 99 percent of jiu-jitsu is on steroids. So at least let them get off steroids a little bit, like a few months. They probably need like a year, six months to adjust, and then maybe they could adjust with Darwinism.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 310.
