UFC BJJ competitor Andrew Tackett has thrown out a bold claim on Demetrious Johnsons podcast: he isn’t sure Gordon Ryan could beat Mikey Musumeci in a match where leg locks are on the table.
The comment came up during a wider chat about Musumeci’s upcoming showdown with Bryce Mitchell, and the feeling that the jiu-jitsu community still underrates just how dangerous Musumeci’s technique really is.
Host Demetrious Johnson kicked things off by pointing out:
“Sometimes I don’t think people realize how good Mikey is…”
Tackett, who has been training alongside Musumeci, backed that up with a personal admission:
“I’ve trained with that man for a year now – and I just finally figured out his game to where he’s not submitting me every train session.”
The conversation then turned to a hypothetical clash between Arman Tsarukyan and Musumeci — and Tackett wasted no time shutting that idea down if leg locks were in play:
“If there’s leg locks, there’s no possible way Arman’s winning. If there’s leg locks, there’s no way anyone’s winning.”
He went a step further, floating the idea that even one of the sport’s most dominant no-gi competitors would struggle:
“I don’t even know if Gordon Ryan could beat Mikey if there’s legs.”
Johnson agreed, adding that Ryan himself has admitted he wouldn’t be able to pull it off.
Tackett summed up the problem simply:
“How do you pass that guard?”
Trying to put a number on just how difficult the puzzle is, Tackett joked there might only be one way to get past Musumeci:
“I feel like the only way you can beat Mikey is if you just like headbutt him 30 times, you know, and just make it as mean as possible.”
Even then, he wasn’t convinced it would work:
“But good luck. He’s good at avoiding that, too.”
The comments on Instagram disagreed with these statements with Mo Jassim simply saying “how about we start with baby shark first”, which many people agreed with.
A freelance journalist with more than seven years of experience covering a wide range of topics, with a focus on delivering accurate, engaging, and well-researched reporting. He studied at the University of Birmingham, where he developed a strong foundation in journalism and communications. Martin is a 10th Planet BJJ brown belt and has been training for approximately 10 years and a keen follower of submission grappling.
