Garry Tonon’s Sole Focus is Becoming a Better MMA Fighter

TOKYO -- Grappling superstar Garry Tonon will return to action at One Championship “A New Era” this Sunday. Tonon will face Dutch fighter Anthony Engelen in a 155-pound bout that will look to entertain the crowd in Tokyo.

In his last fight, Tonon continued on the great start to his mixed martial arts career with a guillotine choke finish of Sung Jong Lee. This improved his record to a perfect 3-0, with all three victories coming via finish. “More than anything else, I am trying to become a better MMA fighter and that’s my number one goal,” said Tonon when asked about his current training camp.

“We don’t prepare for opponents by watching a lot of tape,” revealed the grappling expert. “We have a look at what they do, and we work on it a bit. Anything can change, and you have to be prepared for it all. I have adjusted certain things for him, like preparing for someone that will be throwing a lot of kicks. It’s pretty simple if you are fighting a guy who throws a lot of kicks [to] get used to dealing with kicks. The biggest shift is mentally understanding what I need to do to take Anthony out of his game.”

Although only a year into his career as a fighter, Tonon is one of the biggest names in submission grappling. He has an incredible resume filled with matches against big names such as Vinny Magalhaes, Rousimar Palhares and Kron Gracie. “As a professional, branding yourself is very important,” said Tonon. “This needs to happen to get you to the top or otherwise you are just another dude. There is a lot to be said for fighting big fights and [getting] titles on merit for sure, but we all know that it doesn’t always work out that way.

“For me as far as MMA goes, I want to be known as a complete martial artist with a devastating ground game. A guy who is scary to stand up with or be against the fence with,” Tonon continued. “Someone that will do major damage to you on the ground. Unless you can submit someone or do damage on the ground, your grappling ability doesn’t matter basically. I strive to be a fighter that people struggle to build a game plan against.”

Tonon’s coach, John Danaher, who most people know as George St. Pierre’s grappling coach, is someone that is instrumental in the submission specialist’s career and you can hear the respect in his voice when he talks about his mentor.

“The truth is Danaher coaches me in all aspects. Before he was an amazing grappling coach, he was an amazing MMA coach. When John takes on a responsibility, he takes it on completely,” said Tonon. “I think it happens too much in MMA that people have all these different coaches for different aspects such as muay Thai and grappling, and all these guys have these conflicting views of how you are supposed to go in and win a fight. John takes the responsibility of being a coach and says to himself, ‘I better understand this whole sport, from all aspects.’”

Shinya Aoki, who Tonon submitted in a One FC submission grappling match in 2017, is headlining the card. “Man, I am really excited about that!” said Tonon when asked about the future opportunity of a fight with Aoki.

“I can’t see myself or Shinya exiting One Championship or retiring without that match happening. I just feel like people want to see that match too badly. I am super excited to make sure that happens and [to] prepare for that match in my future.”