"It’s up to us as athletes to make sure that this opportunity sticks around" - Garry Tonon remarks on the future of submission grappling

ONE Championship started it and Garry Tonon is dead-set on pushing it forward.

Tonon believes it’s now up to the athletes to continue what ONE Championship has begun for the sport of submission grappling.

The submission artist is just one of many Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioners in ONE Championship who've enjoyed the promotion’s push of submission grappling towards the larger mainstream audience.

Tonon, in a recent interview with ONE Championship, stated that he and his fellow submission athletes will now have to push the sport even further:

“It’s going to come down to two things: [ONE’s] ambition with what they want to do with grappling, and what grappling brings to the table.”

He feels that they must take it to the same notoriety as mixed martial arts, kickboxing, and Muay Thai.

ONE Championship recently signed a five-year deal with Amazon Prime Video, which Tonon knows will give submission grappling a larger field of exposure:

“It’s going to be very much up to us as athletes that are competing to really make this a big show. If they come in and compete and it’s not exciting, eventually, this is going to end. It’s up to us as athletes to make sure that this opportunity sticks around.”

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Garry Tonon says ONE Championship became his avenue to develop further

Garry Tonon, while being a professional MMA fighter, is a natural grappler and one of his accolades includes being a five-time Eddie Bravo Invitational champion.

He also competed in ONE Championship’s first submission grappling match against Japanese legend Shinya Aoki. Since that bout, the promotion has held four more submission grappling contests.

“It’s been years since that match [against Aoki], but that’s how I got my foot in the door. And I’m glad that now, [ONE is] finally really implementing it and making it a big part of their [events]. It’s an exciting thing, and it’s raising the level of our sport.”

Garry Tonon also spoke about his experience in submission grappling and how ONE helped develop his game:

“The truth is [grappling is] what I’ve been doing my whole career. I don’t say that to brag or boast or anything like that. It’s just how it’s been. When I started professional grappling, it wasn’t even really a thing. It was just starting. I think that the work that I did and the type of matches that I had helped put it on the map. And my experiences with ONE only furthered that."

Tonon will return to the sport when he takes on the debuting Tye Ruotolo at ONE 157: Petchmorakot vs. Vienot on May 20 at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.