“A fifty percent chance” - Marcelo Garcia reveals why he prefers not to trade leg locks with BJJ pioneer Masakazu Imanari

Marcelo Garcia understands what he's up against in his long-awaited return to competition at ONE 170.

The Brazilian jiu-jitsu legend will face arguably one of the most notorious leg-lockers in history, Masakazu Imanari, on Jan. 24 at Impact Arena in Bangkok, Thailand.

The Japanese grappling icon, of course, is the creator of the 'Imanari roll', a flashy side roll that is the perfect entry to the 411 position, which is considered the most powerful leg-locking mechanic in the game.

'Ashikan-Judan', which translates to 'The Great Master of Leg Submissions', is indeed a maestro when it comes to attacking an opponent's lower half.

While Marcelo Garcia boasts an incredible leg-lock arsenal of his own, he explained why he's not exactly keen on going that route against Imanari:

"Just so people know, I'm pretty open about that. I don't like to exchange like a foot-ankle lock attack. I feel like it's almost a fifty percent chance," he said on The Ariel Helwani Show.

Moreover, 'Marcelino' admitted he'd rather go for his own signature moves, which gives him total control over his foes. The Brazilian added:

"I feel like it's one of the only moves that when you attack someone, the person can attack you back with the same move. Different than guillotine, different than like a rear-naked choke. When you attack somebody with the guillotine or rear-naked choke, you have to just defend yourself, you cannot really attack back."

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Marcelo Garcia putting his full focus on beating Masakazu Imanari

Marcelo Garcia has always approached training with the mindset of perfecting his full arsenal, rather than focusing on his opponent.

However, considering the gravity of his first competitive bout since 2011, the 41-year-old BJJ royalty says he's been honing in on finding a way to get past Masakazu Imanari's defenses.

The IBJJF and ADCC Hall of Famer told Ariel Helwani:

"My training was never based on my opponent. I just based my training like to go compete against the best one. So I never really thought about my opponent."

Watch the full interview: