Watch Garry Tonon pick up another submission win at Sunday’s ONE 165.
[autotag]Garry Tonon[/autotag] continues his campaign back to the ONE championship featherweight title.
The grappling standout picked up a first-round submission win over Martin Nguyen on the main card of ONE 165 on Sunday in Tokyo. Tonon sank a nasty rear-naked choke at the 4:41 mark to get the tap. The 32-year-old also won a $50,000 Performance of the Night bonus for his finish.
Tonon now is on a three-fight wining streak, all by submission, since his first professional defeat in 2022 when he challenged for the ONE featherweight title.
Tonon told MMA Junkie, in the lead up to the event, that he hoped to secure another title shot with a win at ONE 165.
Garry Tonon is hoping a win over Martin Nguyen at Sunday’s ONE 165 gets him a title shot.
[autotag]Garry Tonon[/autotag] feels he’s fighting for more than just a win or a loss on his record this Sunday.
The standout grappler thinks his upcoming fight against Martin Nguyen is an unofficial No. 1 contender bout in the featherweight division. Tonon (8-1) and Nguyen (15-6) are scheduled to fight at ONE Championship 165, which goes down at Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Japan. If victorious, Tonon sees himself getting another shot at the ONE Championship title.
“I don’t really see too many options for ONE Championship even if they didn’t want that for whatever reason, but I don’t know why (they wouldn’t),” Tonon told MMA Junkie. “I feel like it’s going to be the thing that makes the most sense, assuming I win this fight.
“Thanh Le and Tang Kai are going to fight each other. The only thing that can happen – maybe, I guess – I mean, I would’ve won three fights in a row so it would seem kind of weird to me, but the only thing that I suppose you can argue is that Thanh could lose to Tang Kai and then maybe they can ask me to fight Thanh instead of Tang Kai, but then who fights Tang Kai?”
Tonon is currently on a two-fight winning streak since losing to Thanh Le in a ONE Championship featherweight title fight. He has not been explicitly told by the organization that he’s up next if he were to get his hand raised this weekend. However, he just doesn’t see anyone better suited for the job if he defeats Nguyen.
The 32-year-old knows Nguyen is dangerous, but he plans on making a statement by submitting him.
“I don’t think he’s ever faced someone like me before,” Tonon explained. “Maybe that’s a bit of an ego-driven statement, but he has dealt with a ton of types of different challenges of elite level competition, and he’s done exceptionally well. He’s risen to the occasion. … I like my chances, of course. I don’t think he has the grappling skills to deal with the things I’m going to throw at him. The way I see this fight going is the way I see every fight going. We start by punching each other in the face, we clinch up, and I eventually put this guy down, lay some punishment and submit him. That’s the way I see this fight going.”
Check out these photos highlighting Garry Tonon’s submission win over Shamil Gasanov at ONE Fight Night 12
Check out these photos highlighting [autotag]Garry Tonon[/autotag]’s submission win over Shamil Gasanov at ONE Fight Night 12 from Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand. (Photos courtesy of ONE Championship)
Garry Tonon still has high ambitions for his MMA career despite the KO loss in his first ONE Championship title fight.
[autotag]Garry Tonon[/autotag] hasn’t given up on his title aspirations.
Despite getting knocked out in his first ONE Championship title fight last year, Tonon (7-1 MMA) is still in search of the promotion’s featherweight belt, and even beyond. He’s not going to let the defeat discourage him from his goal of becoming featherweight champ, and then challenging to become a two-division ONE Championship titleholder.
“I definitely want to be a featherweight champion at ONE Championship,” Tonon told MMA Junkie. “I’ve always had my eyes even further than that. I came in this organization watching Martin Nguyen, who was a two-division champion. I want that fight, but would also want to do the same thing he was able to do. I know getting ahead of myself here because we haven’t won this championship yet, but that’s what I would love to do.
“I have high ambition for my career and my abilities, but the featherweight title needs to come first.”
Tonon returns this Friday at ONE Fight Night 12, as he takes on Shamil Gasanov. This will be Tonon’s second fight since he was knocked out in less than a minute by Thanh Le back in March 2022 for the ONE Championship featherweight title. It also marked Tonon’s first career defeat.
There’s a lot the decorated grappler learned, even though the bout was just 56 seconds.
” Looking back at that moment, the most relevant takeaway for me is that if … I don’t think that I should prioritize the idea of grabbing the leg and falling back as like a preliminary strategy as often just because it carries some risks, even though I have won fights very quickly like that,” Ton said. “… I think I have other skills that would make winning a fight much safer than doing that. It’s good to have on my tool belt, it’s also not like I’m never going to do that again.”
Well, decorated grappler [autotag]Garry Tonon[/autotag], who returns to action Friday at ONE Fight Night 12 in Bangkok, Thailand, is all for someone with the profile of one of the world’s most famous billionaires taking interest in MMA, but especially jiu-jitsu.
“When I first heard him wanting to do mixed martial arts and jiu-jitsu on Joe Rogan, I was really excited, man,” Tonon told MMA Junkie. “… A guy like Zuckerberg obviously has a lot of eyes on him, and people are paying attention to what he’s doing. He’s a crazy, incredibly successful guy. So for him to be talking about our sport, it’s just big.”
Tonon sees Zuckerberg’s involvement as a positive thing rather than a negative. Jiu-jitsu has long been a niche sport, and he strongly believes the attention that Zuckerberg brings to the sport could help raise its profile.
That’s why Tonon is annoyed to see others talk poorly about Zuckerberg’s liking of the grappling arts.
“One of the things I hate about the people of our sport is when a celebrity gets involved, I think Demi Lovato started training once … they talk sh*t about some of these guys getting involved in jiujitsu,” Tonon explained. “They’ll get a belt promotion, and everyone is talking sh*t.
“It’s like, ‘Jesus, guys. We got a good thing going here. We got momentum. It’s going to help all these jiu-jitsu athletes that you love make money. This is going to help the sport get more successful and all these sorts of things. It’s like, ‘Man, we’re making it, and you guys are trying to ruin it.’ Just let it be, man.”
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For Tonon, that doesn’t mean Zuckerberg is exempt from criticism outside his love for grappling. After all, he’s one of the most powerful men on earth and has been involved in controversies through his social media giant Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram.
“I’m not saying that these guys doesn’t deserve some sh*t talk, where sh*t talk is due when people make mistakes or they do things,” Tonon said. “I’ll be the first to tell you that I’m not totally cool with all the things that social media has been doing in terms of censorship and what I believe to be a mass manipulation of human beings. I don’t even want to say the American people, just human beings period. I definitely think some problems need to be solved.
“I’ll definitely throw criticism that way. I’m not saying you can’t criticize these people, but what I am saying is that in the context of doing MMA and jiu-jitsu, we should be stoked. We should all be happy that these big names and these super successful people are interested.
“It just goes to show you it’s such a great representation for people, that if somebody like that can get something out of this, if they can get something out of jiu-jitsu and mixed martial arts, and it’s meaningful to them, then hell, man, it can do something for them. I mean, these guys have presumably, at least from most people’s perspectives, whatever the hell they want. They’re the richest and most powerful men in the world. They don’t ever have to get punched in the face or grapple. So if that’s meaningful to these people, man, we must really have something going on. There really has to be something to this.”
Gabriel Bonfim wins MMA Junkie’s Submission of the Month after his older brother claimed KO of the Month honors.
With another action-packed month of MMA in the books, MMA Junkie looks at the best submissions from January 2023: Here are the five nominees, listed in chronological order, and winner of MMA Junkie’s Submission of the Month award for January.
At the bottom of the post, let us know if we got it right by voting for your choice.
Garry Tonon proved why he’s a dangerous force on the mat by making quick work of Johnny Nunez at ONE Fight Night 6 in Thailand.
[autotag]Garry Tonon[/autotag] didn’t need much time to get the job done on Friday evening.
The black belt grappler made quick work of his opponent Johnny Nunez at ONE Fight Night 6, ending the fight in just 1:53. The event took place at Impact Arena in Bangkok, Thailand, and aired on Amazon Prime Video.
After a few intense opening exchanges, Tonon (7-1) closed the distance and engaged in the clich with Nunez along the fence. Getting a hold of Nunez (7-3) was key for Tonon, so he could put his elite grappling skills to use. After jockeying for position against the cage, Tonon found his way to a kimura to counter a body lock by Nunez.
Tonon rolled over the top with the hold, ending in an awkward back position. However, Tonon kept with the kimura and was able to crank enough to force a tap in less than two minutes.
Check out video of the finish below (via Twitter):
Tonon then took to the mic to deliver some interesting words.
“This body is America: strong, violent, full of limitless potential,” Tonon said during his post-fight interview. “I am perfection. I am domination. I am the future, and the future starts tonight.”
“My arms will hold them down while they struggle,” Tonon said. “My legs will run them down while they flee. I am the U.S. Steel of domination.”
After his poetic metaphors, Tonon explained how he was able to secure the kimura from an awkward, near-back position. He then relayed his plans for the near future, which include a spot on the upcoming ONE Championship card in Denver.
“We’re getting another shot at the title soon,” Tonon said. “I thought it was a dominant performance. Whoever’s going to be there when it’s time to fight, that would be great.”
Tonon challenged Thanh Le for the ONE lightweight title last March, but was quickly finished. His win over Nunez was his first MMA fight since then, marking a solid return to the win column after the first loss of his career.
Results of ONE Fight Night 6 include:
Garry Tonon def. Johnny Nunez via submission (kimura) – Round 1, 1:53
Shoko Sato def. Kim Jae Woong via unanimous decision
Thanh Le made quick work of jiu-jitsu ace Garry Tonon, keeping his 100 percent finishing rate intact.
[autotag]Than Le[/autotag] made quick work of jiu-jitsu ace [autotag]Garry Tonon[/autotag], keeping his finishing rate 100 percent in the process.
Le (13-2) retained his lightweight title when he knocked out Tonon (6-1) in the first round of the main event at “ONE Championship: Lights Out” on Friday at Singapore Indoor Stadium.
Tonon backed up Le with a few high kicks and as soon as the pair clinched, Tonon pulled guard and started working for a leg lock. The decorated grappling specialist held onto Le’s leg, but that decision backfired on him.
Le was able to fend off his submission attempts before landing brutal ground-and-pound, including a hard right hand and follow-ups that shut off his lights in less than a minute. Le handed Tonon the first loss of his professional career and earned a $50,000 bonus for his 56-second finish, which you can see below:
Demetrious Johnson will try something new when he returns to competition later this year at ONE X.
[autotag]Demetrious Johnson[/autotag] will try something new for his return to combat.
Johnson, the former UFC flyweight champion, has signed on to compete at ONE X on Dec. 5 against muay Thai champ [autotag]Rodtang Jitmuangnon[/autotag] in a special rules fight. The contest is set for four, three-minute rounds alternating between muay Thai and MMA rules. The fight will start under muay Thai rules and will switch with MMA for the following rounds.
The news was announced by ONE Championship CEO Chatri Sityodtong on “The MMA Hour.”
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Johnson, the most dominant champion in UFC flyweight history, returns to action after suffering his first defeat since leaving the UFC in 2018. Johnson was stopped by Adriano Moraes in the second-round of their championship fight. The loss snapped a three-fight winning streak that marked the start of his ONE Championship career.
Johnson’s opponent, Jitmuangnon, is the ONE Championship flyweight muay Thai champ. He’s considered by many to be one of the best pound-for-pound muay Thai fighters today. Jitmuangnon, 24, never has competed under MMA rules. He last fought in April, outpointing Danial Williams at ONE on TNT 1.
Additionally, a pair of title bouts were announced for the Dec. 5 event.
ONE bantamweight champion [autotag]Bibiano Fernandes[/autotag] is set to defend his belt against former UFC contender [autotag]John Lineker[/autotag]; and ONE featherweight champion [autotag]Thanh Le takes[/autotag] on grappling standout [autotag]Garry Tonon[/autotag].
Grappling ace Garry Tonon continued his rise toward a featherweight title shot by dominating former title challenger Koyomi Matsushima at ONE Championship 122.
American grappling ace [autotag]Garry Tonon[/autotag] continued his rise up ONE Championship’s featherweight ladder by claiming a dominant victory over former title challenger [autotag]Koyomi Matsushima[/autotag], then staked his claim for a title shot of his own.
After some wild early striking exchanges, Tonon (6-0) successfully closed the distance on Matsushima (12-5) and, after initially grabbing a guillotine choke on the Japanese contender, moved to his opponent’s back and dragged the action to the mat.
Once there, “The Lion Killer” locked up a body triangle and relentlessly pursued a rear-naked choke, while Matsushima did well to fend off the American’s submission attack and survive the round, despite having Tonon on his back for the final three minutes of the round.
It didn’t take Tonon long to take matters to the mat in Round 2, as he once again took Matsushima’s back and looked to work his way toward another submission opportunity. Again, the Japanese athlete stayed composed under intense pressure and countered Tonon well to stay alive in the matchup, and even managed to finish the round on top and score with some heavy ground strikes to register a little offense of his own before the bell.
Tonon switched gears at the start of Round 3 and dived for a leg lock, but Matsushima, who had prepped for the fight by training with Japanese leglock legend Masakazu Imanari, managed to escape the predicament.
With the fight back in the stand-up realm, Matsushima looked to make a late impact with his striking as he pursued Tonon across the cage in search of a knockout, but his relatively low output, plus Tonon’s constant movement, ensured the jiu-jitsu ace avoided trouble before the final bell to go the distance for the first time in his MMA career.
Tonon’s complete dominance of the fight through the first two rounds meant the three judges – scoring the fight in its entirety – all awarded the fight to Tonon as he improved his perfect record and positioned himself for a possible shot at newly-crowned featherweight champion, Thanh Le.
After his win, Tonon issued his challenge to Le by cutting a pro-wrestling-style promo in his post-fight interview.
“Ripper! Tearer! Slasher! Gouger! I am the teeth in the darkness, the talons in the night. I am all that is strength, loss and power. I am Garry Tonon!” he declared.
“Listen, that was a really tough fight. But the next one? Thanh Le, I’m coming for you! And not just you, I’m coming for the gold that you’ve hoarded around your waist. It’s mine!”
ONE Championship 122 results include:
Garry Tonon def. Koyomi Matsushima via unanimous decision
