Garry Tonon is accustomed to other fighters, particularly those of a younger generation, looking up to him as an idol. What he didn’t anticipate was for his adversary to treat him with the same degree of respect that he did.
When the Brazilian jiu-jitsu star discovered that he would be facing Shamil Gasanov in his dream matchup for ONE Championship, he was taken aback by the news.
Tonon will still proceed into ONE Fight Night 12 with the intention of having his hand raised against Gasanov, despite the fact that he was given such an honorable distinction by another expert grappler.
Tonon stated that he like the manner in which Gasanov would treat him as such in an interview with ONE Championship.
“I appreciate it from the point of view of respect. That’s very fantastic in my book. Being recognized as someone that others look at and think, “Man, that’s the guy I need to beat to really prove myself, I mean, that feels good,” is a great accomplishment.
Tonon is one of the most influential BJJ artists of the modern period and has won the Eddie Bravo Invitational multiple times. He is also a champion of this tournament. It is not out of the question that Gasanov, who is a submission expert in his own right, may have adopted some of Tonon’s approach in order to improve his grappling game.
The American superstar has since made a successful move into a career in mixed martial arts (MMA), although his first fight in ONE Championship wasn’t under the umbrella of the multifaceted sport.
In May of 2017, Tonon made his debut for ONE Championship against the Japanese wrestling veteran Shinya Aoki in the competition’s first ever submission grappling bout. Tonon made the crossover to mixed martial arts (MMA) after defeating Aoki with a heel hook. He went on to accumulate an outstanding 7-1 record in MMA.
Tonon was given the opportunity to compete for the ONE featherweight world title against Thanh Le, who was the reigning champion at the time, in March 2022. Tonon has a winning streak of six wins in his first six contests. Despite this, Tonon was unsuccessful in his attempt.
Since then, Tonon has gotten his career back on track by defeating Johnny Nunez by submission at ONE Fight Night 6 in January of this past year.
This coming Friday, local time in the United States, the legendary Lumpinee Boxing Stadium will play host to ONE Fight Night 12. All Prime Video subscribers in North America have access to the live broadcast of the complete card at no additional cost.
