Garry Tonon is looking to make his return to the ONE FC cage after a lengthy absence from MMA competition. The jiu-jitsu phenom recently appeared on Jake Shields’ podcast to discuss his MMA future, current training situation, and the challenges he’s faced while being sidelined.
Tonon, who built an impressive 6-1 record in ONE FC with flashy submissions and dominant performances, hasn’t competed in mixed martial arts for over a year. While he couldn’t disclose all the details surrounding his absence, he expressed his eagerness to get back to MMA.
“I’m not happy to have not been fighting,” Tonon admitted. “When you get involved with professional fighting, you have to deal with lengthy contracts and there’s a lot of stipulations and things you got to fight for when you sign your contract.”
The grappling ace explained that he’s been working diligently behind the scenes to secure the best possible situation for his fighting future.
“I’m not looking to rush into something stupid,” he said. “If waiting an extra six months means that I’m going to have a much better future, it’s probably worth it.”
Despite the frustration of being sidelined, Tonon revealed positive news about his MMA career:
“I think it’s very likely that you’ll see me back in ONE, you’ll see me fighting for a championship again.”
ONE FC has pulled Tonon from their rankings following a disgruntled post and Eddie Bravo saying Tonon was negotiating with the UFC.
During the podcast, Tonon also discussed his transition from grappling to MMA, recalling some memorable training sessions with Shields early in his MMA career.
“I think John [Danaher] never really wanted me to do MMA,” Tonon reflected. “I was already doing really well in grappling… I think part of his way of making sure that I was really into this was making the early part of my training very difficult.”
This included sparring sessions with the experienced Shields, which proved to be a baptism by fire.
“The first person I’m sparring is you, three [rounds] every day of the week,” Tonon said to Shields. “It was rough, but you learned so much through that month… and you showed you were not going to quit.”
