“Well that sucked” - Garry Tonon channels his inner Ben Askren after KO loss to Thanh Le

At least Garry Tonon has a sense of humor, we can give him that.

The No. 2-ranked featherweight contender in ONE Championship suffered the first loss of his mixed martial arts career when he was stopped by reigning ONE featherweight world champion Thanh Le last Friday at ONE: Lights Out.

Tonon dove for the legs and chased an ill-advised ankle lock to his detriment. Le capitalized on Tonon’s inexperience by raining down a plethora of hammer fists that separated the submission grappling superstar from his senses.

Afterward, Tonon took to social media to express his disappointment, which proved to be an amusing callback to another knockout of the same nature.

Garry Tonon Tweeted:

“Well that sucked.”

Fans can recall a similar tweet from a certain UFC fighter named Ben Askren, who also just happens to be the former ONE welterweight world champion.

Askren tweeted in 2019, just after getting starched by Jorge Masvidal with the infamous flying knee in just 5 seconds.

“Well that sucked.”

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Where does Garry Tonon go from here?

After succumbing via quick knockout to featherweight king Thanh Le, someone should tell Garry Tonon that Brazilian jiu-jitsu alone will not be enough to carry him to an MMA world title.

The BJJ black belt hinted to fans that they could catch a glimpse of his improved striking in this match. But any plan he had fell apart in less than a minute.

It’s still not the end of the road for the grappling wizard, though. Tonon remains one of the most talented and athletic fighters in the multi-talented division. Unfortunately, it's back to the drawing board for ‘The Lion Killer.’

His head coach and mentor, John Danaher, and teammates at the now defunct Danaher Death Squad should be able to point out his shortcomings from this defeat, which will help him put in a stronger and more versatile performance in his next appearance with the Singapore-based promotion.

A good fight for him to resume his quest on the global stage would be against Martin Nguyen or Tang Kai. Like Thanh Le, both fighters are efficient in the striking department. Furthermore, Tonon has entertained the idea of a match against Nguyen, regardless of whether he would beat Le or not.