Despite his MMA inexperience, if Garry Tonon gets the call to fight for a title, he’ll gladly take it.
The ONE Championship featherweight revealed that he was scheduled to return in April, before the coronavirus outbreak put a hold on all events in the promotion.
It’s been a year since Tonon (5-0) last competed, when he submitted Yoshiki Nakahara in less than a minute. The world-class jiu-jitsu talent has kept active in the meantime by competing in numerous grappling competitions, but is eager to return to MMA.
In February, Tonon campaigned for a title shot against champion Martin Nguyen. Although he’s willing to compete at least one more time before then, he doesn’t mind reaching his ultimate goal next.
“If it means I fight sooner, I’d rather just go for the title shot,” Tonon told MMA Junkie. “I’m looking to get experience under my belt either way honestly. If I have to take one more fight before I fight for the title, that’s OK with me but man, whatever gets me that fight.
“So if the soonest fight is Martin, then let’s do it. He’s one of the big milestones in this sport and in this organization that I’m looking to overcome. It’s been somebody that I’ve been looking at since Day 1.”
But if it’s not Nguyen next, Tonon suspects he’ll have a hard time drawing a worthy next foe.
“At this point, I just want to get a fight like ASAP because it’s been a long layoff since my last one,” Tonon said. “There was a little bit in-contract negotiations, and then I was scheduled to fight and then the corona stuff started happening but towards the end of that, I was trying to push to get the title fight because it seems I’m in a weird spot where alright 5-0, it’s a good record obviously but it’s not like a super experienced record.
“So what ends up happening is, everybody that they ask to fight me that’s not Martin, isn’t really that interested in taking the fight. It’s a tough fight, it’s a dangerous fight for a lot of people…I’m arguably one of the best submission artists in mixed martial arts period or let alone that weight class, that organization. It’s something that they haven’t seen before and it’s a big risk to take.”
Garry Tonon knows he's inexperienced, but won't say no to ONE title shot