Mikey Musumeci shared the alarming particulars surrounding the damage that took him out of ONE Championship’s return to ‘The Mile Excessive Metropolis’ in September.
Reigning because the ONE flyweight submission grappling world champion, Musumeci was scheduled to sq. off with ADCC and CJI Invitational winner Kade Ruotolo at ONE 168. Sadly, Ruotolo was pressured to bow out of the bout after sustaining accidents throughout his $1 million run on the inaugural Craig Jones Invitational weeks earlier.
Consequently, Musumeci was as a substitute booked to defend his flyweight title towards Bebeto Oliveira on the occasion. The one drawback was, ‘Darth Rigatoni’ was by no means scheduled to defend his title. As a substitute, he was scheduled to maneuver up three weight courses and problem Ruotolo for his ONE light-weight submission grappling crown.
With a brand new opponent and solely per week to chop a whopping 35 kilos, Musumeci instantly set to work. Sadly, he’d by no means make it to struggle evening. Musumeci missed weight and was subsequently stripped of his flyweight title. Weeks later, he exited ONE Championship.
Showing on The Ariel Helwani Present, Musumeci shed some mild on the state of affairs and revealed that he was affected by a really uncommon and life threatening sickness whereas attempting to chop the load for ONE 168.
“So, mainly, they provided me one other opponent at 178 kilos,” Musumeci stated. “I needed to be a minimal of, I imagine, like 165 or 160-something, however I stroll round lots lighter. I couldn’t legally make that weight due to the Athletic Fee guidelines. I instructed them, ‘I can’t make that weight,’ so I most popular to only keep on with my division.
“On the time, I used to be very mild. I might’ve made 135 kilos, no drawback. However then the lung damage occurred, which none of us knew about on the time. I solely had two days to make weight, whereas I often want a minimum of per week. The evening earlier than the match, at weigh-ins, I used to be 140 kilos hydrated. The struggle was set at 135 kilos. That evening, I sustained the damage, which turned out to be known as pneumomediastinum.
“It’s when your lung tears, and air leaks into your throat. I used to be attempting to sweat and saved telling my mates, ‘What’s mistaken with my throat? It feels so sore.’ It felt like crispy bubbles in my throat. All of us thought I used to be simply dehydrated or dizzy. However I knew one thing felt off.
“I additionally tried a special model of chopping weight since I had solely two days,” Musumeci continued. “I drank plenty of electrolytes, pondering it will assist with the hydration check. In ONE Championship, they use a gravity check to examine the sodium degree in your urine. If it’s above 1.0250, you fail hydration. I believed ingesting electrolytes would preserve my ranges balanced. However when the lung challenge occurred, my physique shut down. I couldn’t sweat anymore and have become tremendous dizzy. My urine had a lot sodium from the electrolytes that I couldn’t flush it out, even after ingesting three gallons of water. Every part acquired caught in my abdomen.
“At that time, I felt one thing was actually mistaken and determined to go to the hospital. It turned out I used to be extremely fortunate to not have fought. The physician stated my lung would have collapsed in a single minute, and I might have died.”
Mikey Musumeci explains why he left ONE Championship
In accordance with Musumeci, the situation often accounts for one in each 42,000 hospital instances.
“I used to be there for 3 or 4 days,” Musumeci added. “Once I left, I couldn’t elevate my coronary heart fee or breathe closely for 2 weeks. Even strolling made me really feel bizarre. It was scary.”
Musumeci being pressured to chop a lot weight in such a brief span sparked outrage from struggle followers who lambasted ONE Championship for placing the New Jersey native in an virtually inconceivable state of affairs after which proceeded to strip him of his ONE flyweight submission grappling title when he couldn’t hit the mark.
Explaining why he determined to depart ONE, Musumeci appeared to carry no animosity towards the group or it’s CEO, Chatri Sityodtong, who he describes as a parental determine.
Musumeci has since signed a landmark cope with the UFC and is scheduled to make his debut at UFC Combat Cross Invitational 9 on December 5. ‘Darth Rigatoni’ will tackle Felipe Machado on the occasion.
