ONE Championship: grappling legend Masakazu Imanari to battle ‘BJJ phenom’ Mikey Musumeci in Singapore
- Japanese grappling legend Imanari will return to the ONE Circle to battle debuting Musumeci at on April 22 at ONE: Reloaded
- The 25-year-old American – a five-time BJJ champion – is already being hailed as next big thing ahead of promotional debut
ONE Championship appears to be all-in on promoting submission grappling matches.
The promotion revealed the booking – which will be contested at a to-be-announced catchweight – on social media on Thursday evening.
The 46-year-old Imanari (39-20-2 MMA) is one of the most accomplished grapplers to emerge from the Japanese combat sports scene. His influence is significant enough that not one but two grappling manoeuvres have been named in his honour: the “Imanari Roll”, which involves rolling into a leg-lock attempt from standing position, and the “Imanari Choke”, which combines elements of the rear-naked choke and omoplata.
He has competed for ONE Championship before, going 2-2 in the promotion’s bantamweight MMA division in 2018 and 2019, most notably submitting South Korea’s Kwon Won-il, who is now one of the division’s top contenders.
His return to the ONE Circle follows a two-fight stint in the Rizin Fighting Federation ring, where he lost a decision to Kenta Takizawa and then defeated Takeshi Kasugai by submission.
He will receive a stern welcome back to the promotion. In New Jersey’s Musumeci, the Japanese veteran will meet a five-time jiu jitsu world champion who is already being hailed by ONE’s social media team as a “BJJ phenom”.