Gabriel Sousa is expecting a high-level battle against one of the top submission grappling talents of a generation in his upcoming match.

The Brazilian star is set to debut in ONE Championship when he meets Mikey “Darth Rigatoni” Musumeci in a bantamweight submission grappling bout at ONE 167: Tawanchai vs. Nattawut II on Friday, June 7, inside the Impact Arena in Bangkok, Thailand. 

Gabriel Sousa predicts how his fight with Mikey Musumeci would proceed

After winning prestigious Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu tournaments around the world, Sousa will now add his talents to the growing stable of elite grapplers in ONE Championship, and he’ll meet arguably the best of them in his first engagement. 

Musumeci has stayed perfect across six matchups in ONE, and he claimed the inaugural ONE Flyweight Submission Grappling World Title in 2022.

However, Sousa is credited as the last man to submit the American in competition, and he has been busy dissecting “Darth Rigatoni’s” recent bouts. As a result, the Essential Jiu-Jitsu star feels confident in offering a prediction for how their match will go down.

“It can end in several ways, but I believe Mikey will pull guard. He won’t trade takedowns with me. He will play underneath, playing guard, and I’m going to try to pass his guard. My focus will be on passing to side control or taking the back, and Mikey’s focus will be on attacking my legs or taking my back,” he said.  

“If I could choose an outcome, of course, I would like to pass his guard and submit him on his back. But, again, we are two very high-level athletes. Let’s see how it goes this time.” 

Sousa is set to impress at ONE 167

Sousa has built a reputation for being a tireless workhorse who relentlessly finds ways to improve his craft. A perfect example of this is how he incorporated judo into his grappling game so that he could develop his standup skills. 

The 27-year-old will undoubtedly utilize this when he meets Musumeci, who’ll be looking to impress when he moves up from flyweight to bantamweight in search of scoring redemption against his old foe.

Their matchup will kick off a busy few months for the flyweight submission grappling king. Whatever the result of his showdown with Sousa at ONE 167 turns out to be, he’ll be right back into training for his next challenge right away.

ONE Championship is set to return to the U.S. for ONE 168: Denver in September, and Musumeci will move up in weight even further to challenge Kade Ruotolo for the ONE Lightweight Submission Grappling World Title on the exciting card.