Mikey Musumeci may soon be stepping off the mats and into the octagon.

Following his successful title defense at UFC BJJ 5, the reigning champion revealed during the post-event press conference that he intends to transition into mixed martial arts competition – potentially under the UFC banner:

We’ll see, you might see me in UFC MMA in the near future as well.

Immediately after this, I get back to training, working more for MMA… In the next few months, we’ll announce soon.

The 27-year-old grappling star also used the event to showcase a different side of his game.
Known primarily as a guard specialist, he deliberately emphasized top control and passing:

I had more fun. I played top instead of just playing guard.
So I feel like I showed I have really good passing.

In the gym, you’ll just see me mostly playing top…
But when I compete, I just look for the fastest way to finish usually.

Musumeci admitted he does not fit the image most fans associate with an MMA fighter:

Obviously I’m not the stereotypical jiu-jitsu person or MMA… Imagine me doing MMA, how crazy that would be.
People would be like, there’s no way that person could actually do MMA and compete.

But I love proving people wrong.

He plans to compete at flyweight (125 lbs), a division he believes suits him physically:

I think I could go really far. In MMA, I would probably do 125 lbs.
So I’ll be very strong in that division.

Preparation has already begun. Musumeci recently trained with UFC contender Umar Nurmagomedov and came away impressed:

I was actually impressed with Umar because he is very technical. He doesn’t try to overpower.

He also revealed future training plans in one of MMA’s most respected regions:

They’re going to have me go to Dagestan…

I love learning… The uncomfortability of doing something new will definitely make me improve in Jiu-Jitsu as well.

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