Fansided

One Championship confirms Garry Tonon’s MMA debut this March at ONE: Iron Will

By Amy Kaplan

SINGAPORE - MAY 26: Garry Tonon and Shinya Aoki during their Grappling Super-Match at ONE Championship: Dynasty of Heroes at the Singapore Indoor Stadium on May 26, 2017 in Singapore (Photo by Dux Carvajal/ONE Championship/Getty Images)
SINGAPORE - MAY 26: Garry Tonon and Shinya Aoki during their Grappling Super-Match at ONE Championship: Dynasty of Heroes at the Singapore Indoor Stadium on May 26, 2017 in Singapore (Photo by Dux Carvajal/ONE Championship/Getty Images) /
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Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu world champion Garry Tonon will make his MMA debut in March at ONE Championship.

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu superstar Garry Tonon finally has his MMA debut date and it’s sooner than you may think.

According to John Danaher, Tonon’s coach, the black belt will make his highly anticipated debut at ONE Championship: Iron Will this March in Thailand. ONE Championship confirmed this information with FanSided today.

“I was scheduled to get my knee replacement tomorrow, but I didn’t do it because Garry Tonon will be fighting his first MMA fight on March [24],” Danaher said on a recent episode of the Joe Rogan Experience. “If I got the knee replacement now, I would not be able to help him get ready for his first MMA fight.”

Tonon is an ADCC Veteran and five-time Eddie Bravo Invitational champion. He has trained with the likes of former UFC welterweight and middleweight champion Georges St-Pierre and Jake Shields. He signed with the promotion in October 2017 but was thought to be taking more time to train before making his professional debut.

He has no amateur MMA bouts and his coach says that was a strategic decision.

“I think one of his main fears was that if he went the amateur route and then worked his way to the UFC there would be problems because he is already an established name in grappling,” said Danaher. “And I think he was concerned that it would be difficult to get people to fight amateur [with him] and then eventually make his way to the UFC.”

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Though Tonon has not competed in MMA, he has been inside the ONE Championship cage as he competed in a grappling showcase at ONE Championship’s Dynasty of Heroes last year. In that showing, he tapped out Shinya Aoki.

ONE Championship: Iron Will takes place on March 24, 2018 in Bangkok, Thailand.