After an 18-month hiatus due to complex contract negotiations, Garry Tonon is back in ONE Championship with his sights set on potential future matchups with rising stars Kade and Tye Ruotolo, among other unfinished business in the lightweight division. The American submission specialist’s return comes at a pivotal moment as the grappling world’s most promising talents continue their transition into mixed martial arts.
Tonon‘s extended absence from competition wasn’t voluntary. The veteran fighter revealed that his 18-month layoff was primarily due to lengthy contract negotiations with ONE Championship that tested both parties’ patience.
“Yeah, sure, man. Well, yeah, there were some major contract negotiations. You know, I was reaching the end of my contract and we had a, you know, we had some disagreements about how we were going to proceed and things like that and whether or not I was going to stay or go and all these sorts of things.” – Tonon told SCMP.
The prolonged negotiations proved frustrating for all involved, with Tonon acknowledging the difficulty of the situation while maintaining perspective about the business side of professional fighting.
“It just took a long time to get everything straightened out in a way that I thought was good for both of us. And I think we found something that works for both of us. It’s I’m not happy that it took as long as it did. And I’m sure ONE probably feels similarly.”
Despite the contractual challenges, Tonon emphasized that such situations are commonplace in professional sports. There were rumors previously of him negotiating with the UFC as well as a well publicized spat on twitter.
“This is just something that happens in sports, man. And you know, I was prepared to do it. Thankfully, I’m not super young, but I have enough time in my career where it wasn’t the end of the world for me to take some time to make sure that we got the best deal we could.”
Tonon utilized the time strategically to address lingering injuries through stem cell treatment.
“I was definitely able to deal with some injuries. I mean, with chronic injuries, you know, they stay with you forever no matter what you do. But I was definitely able to go do some stem cell stuff in the meantime to work on some injuries and things.”
The break also allowed him to focus on building a new gym in Austin, set to open within the month.
Speaking ahead of his rematch with Shamil Gasanov, Tonon addressed the possibility of facing either Kade or Tye Ruotolo in MMA.
“Originally, I was supposed to fight Kade and then they just changed who it was that I was fighting as if it’s, you know, there’s not a weight difference um in the last like month or few weeks before the fight, which is weird, but whatever. It is what it is. I’m I’m game.”
“He’s pretty early on in his MMA career. Is it something that if if I’m still there when he works his way up, which I’m sure he will because he’s an incredible athlete. Um yeah, man. I mean that be a great fight. I think I think a lot of people would love to see that.”
“I think it’s a good test for sure and a and a fun one for the grappling fans you know because that’s something that they would probably love to see like you know jiu-jitsu between me and him in a in a MMA context. It’s more interesting in my opinion than just a straight grappling match, you know, between me and him.”
Gasanov has worked his way back to title contention following their first encounter. While some questioned whether he deserved a rematch, Tonon defended his path.
“It’s like, ‘Well, he won four in a row.’ It’s like, you know, he’s kind of working his way up the ladder.”
“So, I think this match is as good as any and he certainly has worked his way back up to deserving it for sure.”
“He may take the next fight, you know, a little bit more cautiously when it comes to submission attempts and things like that. So, it might completely change the way that the fight goes.”
“I was probably ready to my next fight or so would have been another title contention fight. So, yeah, I mean, we definitely want to work our way back up there.”
“We could see me fighting for the title, you know, next fight after this one. So I think this is going to be a really, you know, this is obviously a really important fight for me.”
Beyond the Ruotolo brothers, Tonon also expressed interest in a rematch with Thanh Le.
“I mean I would love to that rematch with Thanh.”
However it’s unclear if it might materialize due to Thanh Le’s potential retirement.
