Is Garry Tonon the best MMA grappler in ONE Championship?

‘The Lion Killer’ Garry Tonon is quite possibly the best submission grappler in ONE Championship. The submission machine is a former IBJJF (International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation) world champion, a two-time IBJJF world no-gi champion, and a five-time Eddie Bravo Invitational champion. In 2018, Tonon transitioned to mixed martial arts, bringing his world-renowned grappling skills to the circle and going undefeated in his first six bouts.

ONE Championship highlighted Tonon’s sensational grappling skills on Instagram, sharing a clip of ‘The Lion Killer’ locking in a slick rear-naked choke.

“The Lion Killer's" got SLICK submissions 🦁 @garrytonon”

Showing that he could get it done on his feet as well as on the ground, Tonon scored two knockouts and three submissions in his first five contests. His only loss inside the circle thus far came against reigning ONE featherweight world champion Thanh Le.

Garry Tonon can be credited as one of the founding fathers of submission grappling in ONE Championship. The promotion’s first foray into the grappling world came at ONE: Dynasty of Heroes in May 2017. That night, Tonon faced Asian combat sports legend Shinya Aoki in a grappling contest. ‘The Lion Killer’ defeated ‘Tobikan Judan’ via submission just over seven minutes into the contest.

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The title of best submission grappler in ONE Championship could be a three-way tie between Garry Tonon, Reinier de Ridder, and Marcus Almeida

ONE Championship has seen an influx of world-class grapplers over the last few years. While Garry Tonon has stood at the top of the mountain for quite some time, he has stiff competition in the promotion’s reigning two-division world champion Reinier de Ridder and a relative newcomer to organization, Marcus ‘Buchecha’ Almeida.

Tonon’s accolades are well documented, but it's hard to justify placing any one of the three above one another. Almeida, for instance, is a 17-time BJJ world champion. Transitioning to MMA in late 2021, ‘Buchecha’ has scored three straight dominant first-round victories with a 100 percent finish rate. Almeida has only spent a total of 7:46 inside the circle across his three bouts — he is that dominant.

Speaking of dominant, you can’t say that word without bringing up ‘The Dutch Knight’ himself, Reinier de Ridder. Coming off the heels of another outstanding first-round submission win over former world champion Vitaly Bigdash, de Ridder has two world titles, an undefeated record of 16-0, and 11 victories via submission.

All three fighters are world class talents that have shown the ability to dominate. It feels impossible to put one at the top, so for argument's sake, let's call it a three-way tie.

Watch Gary Tonon's ONE Championship highlights below: