Garry Tonon Is Terrified Of His Next ONE Championship Opponent & We Can’t Say We Blame Him

March 1, 2019

garry3 — Image Source: Garry Tonon & Anthony Engelen via Instagram

Garry Tonon’s next MMA opponent at ONE Championship has been announced.

Tonon and his opponent, Anthony Engelen, both shared the news of the matchup, which will take place in Tokyo on March 31. Engelen, who fights out of Indonesia but comes from the Netherlands, expressed his respect for his opponent, calling him his “toughest opponent yet” and “the best grappler in the world.”

View this post on Instagram

On the 31st of March it's back to business on the most stacked @onechampionship card ever! And i'll be facing my toughest opponent yet! I'll square off with the best grappler in the world @garrytonon. We met each other on the Singapore card back in November, unaware that we would share the cage just several months later in Tokyo! All I can say is that im super excited for this challenge and it will be a great show! Not only that, but to fight on the same card as @mightymouse125, @ealvarezfight and one of my fellow Dutch heroes @andy8souwer2official 😲😲😲 Whuuutttt! Also my @balimma team mates Andrew Leone and @jingnan.xiong are coming for that WIN! . . #tokyo #onechampionship #stacked #blessed #bali #jakarta #balimma #sitebeat #youc1000isotonic #arigatougozaimasu #osu

A post shared by Anthony “The Archangel Engelen (@anthonyengelen) on Feb 27, 2019 at 2:53am PST

Tonon also expressed his respect for Engelen, calling him “the guy that looked like he almost killed a guy with a head kick in like 40 seconds into the 1st round on the last card I was on” and sharing the video of the moment while totally not having a panic attack.

View this post on Instagram

"Hey Garry your next opponent is Mr. @anthonyengelen. " "Isn't that the guy that looked like he almost killed a guy with a head kick in like 40seconds into the 1st round on the last card I was on?" "Yes I believe that's correct." "……………… mmmmmmhhmmm *loud coughing and choking noises*" You ok Garry?" "What? Um yea….. fine , definitely not having a panic attack…Uh super excited for this fight guys thanks for the opportunity." WILL ONE OF YOU PLEASE REMIND ME WHY I'M DOING THIS SPORT AGAIN?!?!?🤢😧🥺😢 #Repost @anthonyengelen #Repost So this just happened… Took this fight on 2 weeks notice. The result aint too bad! “The Archangel” is back… and i’m here to stay!! . . @onechampionship #mma #onechampionship #singapore #koofthenight #headkick #mma #fight #martialarts #kickboxing #muaythai #selfdefense #tononvsEngelen #onechampionship #fightcamp

A post shared by Garry Lee Tonon (@garrytonon) on Feb 27, 2019 at 3:41am PST

Engelen has a professional MMA record of 8-5, with half of his wins coming via submission. Tonon, who will be fighting Engelen just after a year following his MMA debut, is currently undefeated in MMA over his three fights.

ONE: A New Era will go down in Tokyo, Japan on March 31, 2019.