Mikey Musumeci is one of the universally loved characters in Jiu-Jitsu, who is both a beast when competing and the best human being on and off the mats when he is not. While we know a lot bout his crazy diet, competitive mindset, and his insane drilling habits, now Musumeci shares what got him into BJJ, what keeps him motivated, and what he’d like his legacy to be.
How It All Started
Musumeci moved a lot as a child, changing a total of 11 homes. That made making friends (and keeping them) hard for him, which resulted in a depression that follows him pretty much his entire life.
The way Mieky found to cope with it all was Jiu-Jitsu.
Through BJJ, Musumeci overcame many hardships, including controlling his depression and starting to enjoy life.
Initially, he did not feel like the other kids, he felt different, but on the mats, BJJ made him feel accepted and normal, it gave him an environment that valued him. Having the gift of hyperfocus helps Musumei as he says in a recent feature video for Fightlore Official:
“So if I focus on one thing, I can like focus on it a lot deeper than other people. So that’s a gift.”
Why He Completes
For Mikey Musumeci, the main reason he competes is easy – because he loves it.
He has been training since he was 4 years old, which brings the total time he spent on the mats to a whopping 22 years at the moment. That is a lot of experience and he still has many milestones to achieve.
Another reason Musumeci enjoys stepping on the competition mats is that he sees it as a way to make an impact on the next generation of competitive grapplers. He wants to inspire people through his performances on the mats, making them want to train more and achieve more after watching him grapple.
The high-level Musumeci is at is mainly due to the mindset he has adopted of being is own coach. Since the age of 14-15 (which is after a decade in the sport) Mieky started being his own coach, pushing himself further and always studying tape, instructionals, and rolling footage.
Of course, having a sister that is also a World Champion in Tammy Musumeci helps a lot, with the siblings often training in their garage.
“What keeps me going, I would say is my motivation and drive, I’m always trying to get better, and improve and I know how short our life is. I know how limited our time is. So I feel like every second that I am not working toward my goal, I feel like I’m wasting time.
I think what separates me is my obsession, I’m never not thinking about Jiu-Jitsu. Every hour in the day I am thinking of it.”
The Mikey Musumeci Legacy
While Mikey has one of the most attacking and aggressive styles in the sport, always looking for submissions, regardless if he gets them or not, he does not want his style of grappling to be his legacy.
Instead, he’d like people to remember him by the energy on the mats, and the respect and values he holds in high regard.
According to Musumeci, BJJ has a lot of amazing athletes that are horrible people. What he aspires is to be a good person on and off the mats.
Musumeci sees his legacy in giving back to the community, by showing that anyone can do BJJ, and people do not have to fulfill the stereotype of tough arrogant people which is the quintessential combat sports athlete image nowadays. Musumeci instead likes to pull people into Jiu-Jitsu by showing everyone can do BJJ.
His advice to people starting BJJ is to:
“Take it slow, don’t get completely obsessed with it and burn out. So I think a steady, long-distance mindset is the best for anyone starting Jiu-Jitsu. “
