Cover Mikey Musumeci is trying to break the taboo surrounding mental health in the BJJ world (Photo: courtesy of Mikey Musumeci)
Mikey Musumeci is trying to break the taboo surrounding mental health in the BJJ world (Photo: courtesy of Mikey Musumeci)
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The One champion, who was in Hong Kong for a short trip, opened up about being at peace with his ‘weirdness’ and his unique diet of pizza and pasta
Mikey Musumeci says he “doesn’t look like [a] typical fighter”. But those who are familiar with the world of Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ) would instantly recognise him as one of the most highly regarded martial art competitors in the world today.
Born in a small town in New Jersey, Musumeci started practising BJJ and muay thai when he was just four. He quickly fell in love with the Brazilian sport, seeing it as a form of art. “You’re constantly developing new strategies, and you don’t need to be the more muscular [opponent] to win,” Musumeci tells Tatler during a short trip to Hong Kong. “A lot depends on how your brain solves the situation, how it takes new variables into account, just like a maths problem. It’s like human chess.”
Now 27 years old, the athlete is lauded not only for his incredible number of victories, but also for the mentality he brings to the BJJ world. During his visit in Hong Kong, Tatler sat down with the One champion—a contest organised by world’s largest martial arts organisation—to discuss mental health, eating disorders, masculinity in martial arts, and more.
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I often read that your “weirdness” makes you unbeatable in BJJ. Do you identify as a “weird guy”?
In the BJJ world, I’m considered weird. I’m not your average alpha male competing at the highest level. I don’t look like a fighter. I look like a nerd. Today, I’m super-proud of it, even though that wasn’t always the case. I really take pride in representing this other part of the BJJ community, and prove that people like me can still beat mountains of muscles.
You’re saying you weren’t always at peace with your “weirdness”. Can you share your journey towards self-acceptance?
It wasn’t an easy journey to arrive at a place where I felt comfortable with myself, my body and my personality. Mental health isn’t something we talk about much in the fighting community. And growing up in this community, I've always wanted to become more buff, to embrace a more masculine version of myself. But that wasn’t me. And getting out of that mentality was really difficult.
I battled with depression a lot in my life. Because of all the expectations I—and my surroundings—put on myself during training, my mindset was very precise: I thought I’d only be happy once I become a world champion. And throughout the years, I won competitions, earned belts straight away, and I still wasn’t happy. And then I finally won my black belt in jujitsu at 18, I felt nothing. At what was supposed to be the highest point of my life, I felt deeply depressed. It means that it took me 14 years of training to finally realise that this kinds of achievements or material objects wouldn’t make me happy. And it took a lot more time to reconnect with my inner child, and understand that what I actually loved about BJJ was learning and improving.
I didn’t have a “normal” upbringing and didn’t experience what teenagers are supposed to experience. So, I think my happiness really relies on honouring my inner child. But that also means that people find me quite childish in my everyday life or on social media. But I don’t mind.
You’re also known to embrace your inner child through a unique diet: only eating pizza and pasta. Can you tell me about your relationship with food?
I started training really young. At 10, I already had a coach telling me that I wouldn’t become a world champion if I ate a cookie. So I saw food as a reward early on, and it definitely created an unhealthy relationship with food. I started controlling what I was eating more and more, dieting more and more, and that’s how I developed an eating disorder. I would cut carbs while preparing for competition, and compensated by binge eating once it was done. I had nightmares about eating carbs. At some point, I just never felt full. One day, I ate so much that my stomach [hurt] and I had to be taken to the hospital.
But what changed my relationship with food was intermittent fasting. I fell into it quite naturally, because of my busy schedule: there was some days where I could only eat at night. And I realised that having a massive dinner at night would make me feel better physically and mentally. It kind of fixed my brain, and now I eat what I love at night, mostly pizza and pasta.
What’s your favourite pizza topping?
Honestly, just more cheese. We never have enough cheese. I’d probably go towards more Buffalo mozzarella and fior di latte. And also basil. I love adding basil.
You are talking openly about depression and eating disorders, subjects that are taboo in the fighting community.
Yes, it’s really important for me! In the fighting community, we show every single part of our training on social media. We show how strictly we train, how strictly we eat, and everything about it is supposed to feel amazing. But I’ve always felt that it isolates people, and makes them feel alone. At least, that’s how I felt at the time. So that’s why, on Instagram, I really want to show that I’m a human. I want to show my problems and how I face them. Everyone’s struggling with something, and I’m just trying to normalise it for fighters like me. I don’t want other people to feel as alone as I’ve felt for many years.
What are your thoughts on BJJ getting popular in Asia?
It’s super exciting. I’ve been to Singapore, Bangkok, Indonesia and Malaysia, and the fighting community there is amazing. It’s my first time in Hong Kong, and I really want to come back to train more with people here. Asia is experiencing such a rapid growth in terms of BJJ’s popularity, and it’s exciting to witness that.
Last but not least: I heard that you trained with Mark Zuckerberg. How was it?
Training with Mark Zuckerberg was amazing. He’s a nerdy figure, just like me, so we instantly connected. And what’s amazing about him is that, as one of the most successful human being living on earth right now, he wasn’t afraid of humbling himself by starting a new sport that he wasn’t good at. He started from the bottom, and just worked his way up by training. And he’s helping showcase BJJ to the world, which is also my mission.
Salomé Grouard was Digital Editor and Front & Female Content Lead at Tatler Hong Kong. Primarily focused on managing Tatler Hong Kong’s digital platform and content, she also covers gender equality, the music scene and sports through interviews with industry leaders, experts and trendsetters.
Interview highlights include renowned conservationist Dr Jane Goodall, Korean actor Park Seo Jun, singer Jorja Smith, Chinese TV host Yue-Sai Kan, YouTuber Kimono Mom, Japanese rapper Awich, and Brazilian jiu-jitsu fighter Mikey Musumeci.
She has also produced stories on revolutionising sexual wellness in Asia, activism within the surfing community, Asian trans musicians reclaiming their narratives through music and looked at the toxicity of gym culture through the lens of the plus-size community. She also covers music festivals, such as Hong Kong’s Clockenflap and Bali’s Suara.
