The same can always be said about Garry Tonon’s style and career: There’s a lot going on.
Tonon is a very, very busy guy. In addition to being one of the most iconic jiu-jitsu athletes of his generation (and possibly in the history of modern grappling), he’s also an undefeated MMA fighter, having gone 5-0 so far in his career with ONE Championship and finishing all of his fights.
While Tonon’s fans have been supportive in his MMA pursuits, the jiu-jitsu world has also missed his presence on the mats. So it was a pleasant surprise when it was revealed that after two years, Tonon would be making his return to grappling. Best of all, he’d be doing it at the biggest tournament in the world.
We’re now one day down with one day to go at ADCC, and Tonon has made it very clear that his jiu-jitsu has only gotten better since we last saw him compete outside the cage. He choked his way to victory in round one, and then, in the quarter-finals, we saw what many are calling the best match of the event so far when he narrowly defeated Renato Canuto. Today, the “Lion Killer” will be going up against JT Torres in the semi-finals, and although each grappler is going to provide a serious challenge for each other, Tonon is going into the match the same way he approaches every goal: strategically, intelligently, and well-prepared.
Check out what Tonon had to say about his matches yesterday and how his MMA career has affected his jiu-jitsu in our interview below:
