Written by Zuffa LLC
Mikey Musumeci is one of the faces attached to the UFC’s new Brazilian jiu-jitsu promotion, and as the new UFC product prepares for its first event, Musumeci almost found himself coaching against two huge names in the sport.
Earlier this month, the promotion announced UFC BJJ, and that the inaugural event takes place June 25 in Las Vegas. Musumeci is set to compete in the main event of UFC BJJ 1 against Rerisson Gabriel for the inaugural bantamweight title. Musumeci and Gabriel are also opposing coaches for the UFC BJJ: Road to the Title reality show, which began running on the UFC’s YouTube channel on Monday.
Musumeci says Gabriel was not the first name in play to oppose him on the show, and perhaps, he could run the show back again with Gordon Ryan or Craig Jones.
“I was supposed to do it with Gordon Ryan, but he had health problems, so he wasn’t able to do the show, then Craig Jones,” Musumeci told MMA Fighting. “We were 80 percent finalized in doing it [with Craig] but the deal didn’t go through, and then Craig signed with Flo [Grappling] instead.
“So Craig Jones and Gordon were the first two that I was supposed to do it with, first Gordon, then Craig, and Craig was really close to doing it, but it didn’t happen.
“Long term, I have no idea who I’d be an opposing coach with. Let’s hope that we build some personalities from this show [with] UFC that we’re doing, and then we can have another show of me with that person again, right? That’s what’s beautiful about it, that we could develop and build characters with this show. I think that that’s the biggest thing that we’re doing with this show: Storylines and character development. I think that if you just watch jiu-jitsu, you have no idea what jiu-jitsu is, it’s hard to understand. But if you’re actually involved in the characters and you feel connected to them, that will give you a sense of actually connecting to the person, and then you’ll actually want to understand what’s happening in the match.”
Another name floated as a future coach or athlete is the always polarizing Dillon Danis, who has been looking for a chance to sign with the UFC for several years. Danis, a grappling ace in his own right, would certainly create headlines should he become part of this promotion.
When asked about Danis, Musumeci says Danis has beef with him over comments that happened during the promotion’s kickoff press conference — which didn’t actually come from Musumeci himself.
“Yeah, I have nothing against Dillon,” Musumeci explained. “If you wanted us to do the show together, that would be awesome. He was pissed at me though because we did a press conference and Claudia [Gadelha] was talking about him and then he misunderstood and thought I said something about him. So he texted me. He’s like, ‘Where are you sitting,’ —we’re at UFC 316 — like he was going to confront me.
“I’m like, ‘Bro, I didn’t talk about you. What are you talking about?’ I even wrote him again. I’m like, ‘What’s the issue? I didn’t say one word about you.’ So I don’t know if he misunderstood, or if he just wanted drama, but I really didn’t talk about him at all. You could watch, but he just got really upset, but maybe he was just drunk and he just heard, or something. It’s really obvious I didn’t say anything. But, yeah, if he wanted to do a show with me, that would be really fun. I think we would have a good time.”
When asked if the relationship between Musumeci and Danis has improved since the misunderstanding, Musumeci isn’t sure.
“I mean, I’ve been cool,” Musumeci said. “I think he’s still pissed at me for something I didn’t even do, but like you can just watch the video. I even said, ‘Bro, watch the video, watch the video.’ I sent it to him like two times. He hasn’t responded though. He won’t respond.”