Mikey Musumeci had a successful Fight Pass debut, even if it wasn’t the one he wanted.
Musumeci recently signed an exclusive grappling deal with the UFC, so expectations were sky-high when he faced off with Felipe Machado in the main event of the UFC Fight Pass Invitational 9 on Thursday in Las Vegas. And while Musumeci did get the win, the former five-time IBJJF world champion and former ONE Championship flyweight submission grappling champion wasn’t able to secure a finish.
Musumeci immediately came out and pulled guard, quickly inverting with a leg attack. Machado proved game with his defense, though, forcing Musumeci to chain together a sequence of leg lock attacks, constantly off-balancing Machado and preventing him from creating his own offense. Ultimately, Musumeci was unable to secure a submission of any kind in regulation, so the bout went to overtime.
But overtime was more of the same as Machado’s defense was stout enough to avoid a finish, and in the end, Musumeci took home a decision win.
After the fight, Musumeci made no bones about being disappointed.
“Not really. I didn’t finish the fight, so I failed,” Musumeci said when asked if he was happy with his performance. …
“I just want to apologize to the fans for not getting a finish today,” Musumeci added later. “I did my best. I’ll get better, and the next time, I hope I can finish.”
Check out the full results from the UFC Fight Pass Invitational 9 below.
Mikey Musumeci def. Felipe Machado via decision
Renato Canuto def. Jason Nolf via decision
Ronaldo Junior def. Nick Mataya via submission (D’Arce choke)
Jonnatas Gracie def. Kyle Chambers via submission (D’Arce choke)
Raquel Canuto def. Michele Oliveira via submission (rear-naked choke)
Ryan Aitken def. Gabriel Almeida via decision
Maggie Grindatti Lira def. Giovanna Carneiro via submission (heel hook)
Damien Anderson def. Sandrey Silva via submission (rear-naked choke)
Luccas Lira def. Michael Pixley via decision
Lavinia Barbosa def. Shelby Murphey via decision
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