Garry Tonon dominates Koyomi Matsushima at ONE Championship 122, then calls for title shot

American grappling ace Garry Tonon continued his rise up ONE Championship’s featherweight ladder by claiming a dominant victory over former title challenger Koyomi Matsushima, then staked his claim for a title shot of his own.

After some wild early striking exchanges, Tonon (6-0) successfully closed the distance on Matsushima (12-5) and, after initially grabbing a guillotine choke on the Japanese contender, moved to his opponent’s back and dragged the action to the mat.

Once there, “The Lion Killer” locked up a body triangle and relentlessly pursued a rear-naked choke, while Matsushima did well to fend off the American’s submission attack and survive the round, despite having Tonon on his back for the final three minutes of the round.

It didn’t take Tonon long to take matters to the mat in Round 2, as he once again took Matsushima’s back and looked to work his way toward another submission opportunity. Again, the Japanese athlete stayed composed under intense pressure and countered Tonon well to stay alive in the matchup, and even managed to finish the round on top and score with some heavy ground strikes to register a little offense of his own before the bell.

Tonon switched gears at the start of Round 3 and dived for a leg lock, but Matsushima, who had prepped for the fight by training with Japanese leglock legend Masakazu Imanari, managed to escape the predicament.

With the fight back in the stand-up realm, Matsushima looked to make a late impact with his striking as he pursued Tonon across the cage in search of a knockout, but his relatively low output, plus Tonon’s constant movement, ensured the jiu-jitsu ace avoided trouble before the final bell to go the distance for the first time in his MMA career.

Tonon’s complete dominance of the fight through the first two rounds meant the three judges – scoring the fight in its entirety – all awarded the fight to Tonon as he improved his perfect record and positioned himself for a possible shot at newly-crowned featherweight champion, Thanh Le.

After his win, Tonon issued his challenge to Le by cutting a pro-wrestling-style promo in his post-fight interview.

“Ripper! Tearer! Slasher! Gouger! I am the teeth in the darkness, the talons in the night. I am all that is strength, loss and power. I am Garry Tonon!” he declared.

“Listen, that was a really tough fight. But the next one? Thanh Le, I’m coming for you! And not just you, I’m coming for the gold that you’ve hoarded around your waist. It’s mine!”

ONE Championship 122 results include:

• Garry Tonon def. Koyomi Matsushima via unanimous decision
• Bokang Masunyane def. Rene Catalan via knockout (head kick) – Round 1, 0:37
• Jihin Radzuan def. Bi Nguyen via unanimous decision
• Ritu Phogat def. Jomary Torres via TKO (strikes) – Round 1, 3:55