Geo Martinez on Mikey Musumeci: ‘I’m not really intimidated by his game’
The rivalry between Mikey Musumeci and Geo Martinez is only becoming more heated ahead of their March 25 rematch at Who’s Number One (WNO).
After Musumeci defeated Martinez by points at The Road to ADCC in July 2021, Musumeci went on a post-match tirade against Martinez, even stating that he doesn’t deserve his black belt. Musumeci has since apologized for his comments, but the rivalry is still very much alive, with Musumeci openly stating that he wants a rematch so that he break one of Martinez’s limbs.
On Wednesday, Martinez appeared on the WNO podcast to give his thoughts on Musumeci and the upcoming rematch.
Martinez gives Musumeci plenty of credit for his grappling skill, but makes it clear he’s not in the least bit intimidated by what Musumeci brings to the table.
[Musumeci is] very talented, very technical. He’s really flexible and has really good timing with his attacks. But I feel I roll with a lot more people that are more dangerous, in my opinion. People that can really mess me up. I’m not sure if he can really mess me up. He definitely can… put me in a lot of bad spots, but I don’t know, I’m not really intimidated by his game. I feel his game is technical. I don’t feel he’s vicious or super hard or anything. I just feel he’s super technical and slick and if you make a mistake, he’s gonna capitalize on it.
Martinez acknowledges Musumeci’s comments about breaking his leg, but again, Martinez isn’t concerned. While Musumeci may want to break a limb, Martinez wants to break Musumeci’s spirit.
I know he’s trying to be all hard, like I’m gonna break his leg off, and be intimidating and stuff like that, but that’s nothing to me, that’s what I do this for… I know what I’m doing, I know what can happen there, I understand my body…
He can try to break my bones, but my goal is to break him mentally… I want to break him on the mats so mentally he’s broken. That’s my goal right there. I want him to not talk s*** like he does and not be all cocky and kind of big headed, in my opinion. I don’t like that shit. Be cool about it, bro. You’re the champion, you won. And then you go out and talk s*** about someone? I can’t respect that that much… After what he said, it’s hard for me to let that go… I feel like that’s his true personality and he showed who he was.
Ultimately, Martinez recognizes that he and Musumeci are two entirely different people.
Yeah there’s a little drama with us. We don’t like each other right now. He doesn’t like the way I am and I don’t like the way he is. We’re different individuals and we grew up different. We look at life different, but i feel we can connect with different people.
How to watch: Who’s Number One: Mikey Musumeci vs. Geo Martinez takes place on Friday, March 25 and will air live on FloGrappling (subscription required).
