"I think I'll walk away victorious with a submission for sure" - Garry Tonon sees Tye Ruotolo tapping out

Garry Tonon has one plan in his next fight, and that is to make Tye Ruotolo tap. 'The Lion Kiler' and Ruotolo will lock horns in a submission grappling match at ONE 157: Petchmorakot vs. Vienot this Friday, which will be broadcast live from the Singapore Indoor Stadium.

The two grapplers will feature in one of the two submission grappling matches on the card, with the other one between Shinya Aoki and Ruotolo’s twin brother Kade.

During the event’s virtual media day, Tonon said that submitting Ruotolo is his only option and he’s already mentally prepared to do just that:

“I always go into every match, assuming that I'm going to submit somebody. I think doing anything other than that, I mean, you're setting yourself at a disadvantage. It's a sub-only tournament [match], this is the only way that we win.”

He added:

“I definitely think he's super tough. It could definitely go the distance. I think he's absolutely competent enough to defend against many attacks… But yeah, I think I'll walk away victorious with a submission for sure.”

The match against Ruotolo will be the American's second submission grappling match in ONE Championship. Tonon, a five-time Eddie Bravo Invitational winner, took on and submitted Shinya Aoki in the promotion’s first submission grappling match in 2017.

Ruotolo, meanwhile, will be making his debut in ONE Championship, bringing with him a slew of Brazilian jiu-jitsu achievements that include titles in the WNO, Grapplefest, and EBI Combat jiu-jitsu.

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Mixed martial arts remains Garry Tonon’s main focus

Although he’s a natural grappler, Garry Tonon has fully created a successful mixed martial arts career for himself.

Tonon is one of the most dangerous featherweights in ONE Championship and went 6-0 in his first six fights in the promotion. He even challenged for the ONE featherweight world title but lost to reigning champion Thanh Le this past March.

‘The Lion Killer’ said that his MMA career will always be his focus, but he wouldn’t mind going back to submission grappling just to change things up a bit:

“I actually like MMA a lot. Now I don't really know if I want to say I enjoy a break from it. I'm still training and everything anyway. But, you know, I kind of want to get another matchup in MMA as soon as I can. But, you know, grappling feels like home for sure.”

He added:

“MMA is my main goal now and my main focus. I'll probably continue to compete in grappling during any periods of time where I don't have something coming up right away in MMA just because I like to stay active. I think it keeps me healthy, keeps me in shape and you know, in a competitive spirit.”