Former ONE Championship grappling champion Mikey Musumeci was the first grappler to sign an exclusive deal to compete at UFC Fight Pass Invitational, and he headlines the Dec. 5 show in Las Vegas against Felipe Machado, a man on a mission to steal the show during UFC 310 fight week.
“Dana White is starting to look more at the Fight Pass Invitational and we know that when Dana White touches something, it happens,” Machado said in an interview with MMA Fighting. “And with all the potential that grappling has, I think it’s going to be good for everybody involved. I’m honored to be part of this new beginning and to be fighting Mikey Musumeci, but I’m coming to spoil the party [laughs].”
Machado, a leg lock specialist who has claimed gold medals in the IBJJF Brazilian and South American no-gi champioships, said “I never feel pressure.” Musumeci, on the other hand, admitted “I have so much f***ing pressure this time” since the card was basically built around him.
“Most of the time I like to bring pressure to myself even when I don’t have any,” Machado said. “When I fought Diogo Reis this year, a two-time ADCC champion, I promoted the match… I was a big underdog, I placed third in the ADCC Trials and he won it twice, but I brought the pressure to myself. ‘I’ll beat you. I’ll do this, I’ll do that.’ I really believed that, and I like that pressure. Against Musumeci now, I’m so in shock by the opportunity to be headlining this card in the UFC against a guy with so much media, 700,000 followers on Instagram, that I haven’t even thought about pressure yet. This match is a life- and career-changing moment for me.
“But, yeah, I do think it’s [extra pressure] for him, and I do think he can make many mistakes because of that pressure. I have to game plans for this match, if he feels the pressure or not. He wants to put on a great fight and get the finish, to perform well, and if the match starts and he can’t do the things he was planning, maybe he starts to get flustered. If he takes that pressure to the match, I have a strategy to work on those mistakes he makes.”
“I for one don’t care about the result of a match,” he continued. “I never bring that pressure over me to win. I just want to perform. Sometimes I’ve lost but performed so well I left bigger than I came in. Sometimes you’d rather lose with a good performance than win with a boring performance that adds nothing to your career. Every time I fought, I came out bigger.”
Unlike his opponent, Machado did not sign an exclusive deal with the UFC going into his match, so a victory over Musumeci would boost his value as a free agency. He celebrates being paid more than ever before, but knows Musumeci’s purse is way higher than his.
“And [the pay] will only grow more and more,” Machado said. “They will test [the format] and see how it goes, and I think the success of this event will make them pay more. I don’t think my purse is the one of the highest, but it’s already higher than everything I’ve ever had.”
