ONE Fight Night 15: Mikey Musumeci Reveals Battle With Food Poisoning Prior To Victory Over Shinya Aoki

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It's safe to say ONE Flyweight Submission Grappling World Champion Mikey Musumeci had quite the ordeal approaching ONE Fight Night 15: Le vs. Freymanov this past weekend. Everything was going swimmingly for the American star. That was until a case of food poisoning entered the fray.

"Darth Rigatoni's" competitive status during fight week was touch-and-go. But somehow, Musumeci managed to overcome his illness and topple Japanese MMA legend Shinya Aoki in an openweight submission grappling matchup on Saturday, 7 October, in Bangkok, Thailand's Lumpinee Boxing Stadium.

Musumeci's task was already big enough. But almost tapping out to food poisoning was a different case altogether. Having subdued the effects of parasitic watermelon, the 27-year-old revealed he still wasn't close to 100 percent when he made the walk to the ONE Championship ring.

"I'm still very ill. I feel very lethargic right now, you know? That infectious, sick feeling. I still have that a lot right now," Musumeci said on his battle with the issue.

"No matter how your body feels, you have to keep going. You'll function when you don't feel well. We all have the ability to do that. So that takes mental strength to shut off your mind when it tells you to rest and you don't feel well.

"The doctor told me, 'Don't get your heart rate above 100 beats per minute.' And then, like, a day or two after, I was training, and I still fought in this match. It was hard and definitely a difficult task, but it made me so motivated.

"And I wanted to show myself that even when I'm uncomfortable, I don't feel well, I can do this. And that lesson and this experience will transfer to the next fight."

Nobody would've scowled at Musumeci had he been unable to show up at ONE Fight Night 15. But behind it all, Musumeci didn't want to miss the chance to grapple with one of his heroes.

The former ONE Lightweight MMA World Champion in Aoki is undoubtedly one of the most iconic names in the sport, even by surname alone. But Musumeci has also worked to make a name for himself.

So much so, as the saying usually goes, that the flyweight submission grappling king's idol became his rival. But then again, there was no rivalry present with Aoki - only respect.

In the end, Musumeci executed the Japanese warrior's famed Aoki Lock against himself to earn the submission win, and the opportunity to share the canvas with him will live long in the American's memory.

"This is one of my biggest wins because I did one of my favorite positions in modern jiu-jitsu, the Aoki Lock, on Shinya, the creator of the position. [It's] a position that I used when I competed in the gi and won many World Titles with," Musumeci said.

"So, for me, this is like such a special victory. Doing this particular move on the creator and the legend, Shinya Aoki. It's such an honor to face him. Before the match, I kept telling him, 'It was such an honor to face you, professor.'

"And after the match, when the fight was over, that's the first thing I said also. It was a very special moment for me to be out there with Shinya," Musumeci added.

"And I think that's why even when I was sick like I am right now - I still feel really sick - I took this match because I wanted to have the opportunity to roll with him, because he's such a legend."