Mikey Musumeci recently opened up about a terrifying health ordeal that almost ended his career – and life.

Musumeci had been set to face Kade Ruotolo for the lightweight submission grappling title at ONE 168.
But when Ruotolo withdrew due to injuries, Musumeci was matched against Bebeto Oliveira on short notice.

This change in opponents also came with a drastic shift in weight class, forcing Musumeci to cut an extraordinary 35 pounds in just one week – a task that would prove both impossible and dangerous.

Appearing on The Ariel Helwani Show, Musumeci revealed the full extent of the physical toll this weight cut took on him:

Basically, they offered me another opponent at 178 pounds.
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.

He explained how the condition felt at first:

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.

With only two days to cut weight, Musumeci attempted a different strategy, consuming large amounts of electrolytes to pass ONE’s stringent hydration test.
This backfired disastrously, as his body was unable to process the electrolytes, leading to sodium buildup and severe dehydration.

By the night before the fight, he was still five pounds over the limit and experiencing symptoms of his lung injury:

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.