“He's getting even better” – Garry Tonon in awe of KO artist Thanh Le’s ever-improving BJJ arsenal

BJJ specialist Garry Tonon is very impressed with the evolution of interim ONE featherweight MMA world champion Thanh Le.

On Sunday (January 28), ‘The Lion Killer’ met former two-division world titleholder and ONE legend Martin Nguyen in a high-stakes featherweight clash with major title implications.

Unwilling to take any chances, Tonon did was does best, working Nguyen down to the ground and securing a rear-naked choke with mere seconds left in the opening round.

The victory has likely lined him up for a shot at the winner of reigning ONE featherweight champ Tang Kai and interim titleholder Thanh Le, a fight slated to go down later this year.

Speaking with Sportkseeda MMA, Garry Tonon was admittedly impressed by the 62-second submission that Le scored against Ilya Freymanov in his last outing at ONE Fight Night 15 in October.

“[Against Freymanov], he managed to get a hold of the leg and finished him. It looked mechanically very good and I mean, he’s putting in the work in jiu-jitsu, no question.”

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Garry Tonon was impressed by Thanh Le’s comfort level in grappling situations

Known best for his heavy-handed style of fighting that has generated five knockouts across six total victories, but scoring his first submission under the ONE banner has shown a new wrinkle in his game that could make the Vietnamese-American one of the most dangerous men on the roster.

“He's very comfortable in grappling situations and I knew that going into our fight but it looks like he's getting even better,” Tonon added. “He can actually execute a finish because I mean man when the pressure's on it's just a different story.”

If you missed any of the action or want to relive an epic night in ONE Championship history, the ONE 165 replay can be watched on demand via watch.onefc.com.