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Garry Tonon is confident that with his performance at ONE 165, he will be playing on the minds of both Tang Kai and Thanh Le.
The ONE featherweight world champion and interim titleholder are set to unify the belts in a rematch. But now one clear contender has emerged from the chasing pack of elite warriors.
Tonon’s submission skills were once again on show this past weekend when he dominated former divisional king Martin Nguyen on the ground before locking in a rear-naked choke to get the tap in the opening round.
The jiu-jitsu threat of ‘The Lion Killer’ is one of the most unique challenges out there under the ONE Championship banner, and the American is confident that his win will be playing heavily on his potential next opponent’s minds.
He told Sportskeeda MMA that despite having a history with Le that didn’t go his way, he knows that his submission win will impact both competitors:
“Even though Thanh Le has beaten me before, I'm sure both of those guys know it and for me to get out there take [Martin Nguyen’s] back and strangle him in the first round they got to be thinking in their own heads like, ‘Is that going to happen to me?’ So yeah they got to. I think what they have to worry about what's coming next right after that.”
Watch the full interview below:
Garry Tonon passed his recent test with flying colors
As the No.1-ranked contender, coming off of back-to-back wins, there was a lot at stake for Garry Tonon in his title eliminator contest with Martin Nguyen this past weekend.
‘The Lion Killer’ left no doubt in anyone’s minds that he is up next once Tang Kai and Thanh Le settle the score and unify the featherweight belts.
A veteran of the game like Nguyen wasn’t able to offer any answer to the American’s takedown and subsequent ground control.
Once the fight hit the floor, it was a matter of time before Tonon found a submission threat to jump on and after taking the back.
ONE Championship fans can rewatch all the action from ONE 165 via the on-demand replay available at ONE Championship’s website.
