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Former ONE featherweight world title challenger and beloved submission grappling icon Garry Tonon will be returning to his grappling roots this year. The always-goofy grappling savant announced that he'll be competing in the upcoming ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championship.
Posting on Instagram, 'The Lion Killer' revealed his intentions to compete at 66kg in one of the grappling tournaments that has made him famous in the past.
In his announcement, Tonon wrote:
"Garry 'skeletor' Tonon coming to a theater near you. When I'm 145lbs I will also accept the nickname 'Bonin' Tonon. #yourmomsfavoritegrappler"
ADCC, an acronym which stands for Abu Dhabi Combat Club, is one of the longest-running and most prestigious grappling tournaments in the sport's history. Originally taking place in Abu Dhabi, the event is now held across the world in Brazil, China, Spain and the US, just to name a few.
Pitting various grappling disciplines such as Brazilian jiu-jitsu, judo, wrestling, sambo, Luta Livre and many more against each other, ADCC has produced legends throughout the years, many of whom are currently signed with ONE Championship, like Garry Tonon.
ONE grapplers such as Andre Galvao, Marcus 'Buchecha' Almeida, and Michelle Nicolini have previously won gold in ADCC.
Despite not having won gold at ADCC yet, Garry Tonon famously had perhaps the greatest match in the tournament's history when he faced the equally iconic Kron Gracie.
Watch Tonon's classic grappling match with Kron Gracie in 2013 here:
Garry Tonon had one of the best transitions from submission grappling to MMA ever
After achieving almost everything there is to achieve in grappling, including multiple belts in EBI and wins in Polaris, Metamoris, and ADCC, Tonon transitioned to MMA in 2018.
Signing with the world's largest martial arts organization, ONE Championship, Tonon started with a grappling superfight against Japanese legend Shinya Aoki.
Tonon won decisively via his trademark heel hook:
After his win over Aoki, Tonon went on a tear in ONE's lightweight and featherweight MMA ranks, winning six straight with five stoppages. Though his eventual title bid against ONE featherweight world champion Than Le ended in a knockout loss, Tonon is still constantly improving his MMA game and vows to be back better than ever.
Once his detour back to submission grappling in ADCC this year is done, expect the American grappling legend to return to the circle.
