Free full fight: Garry Tonon dismantles Shinya Aoki in ONE’s first submission grappling match

Garry Tonon, one of the greatest submission grapplers in the world today, has had quite a successful transition into MMA.

Granted, there have been a handful of Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champions who braved the world of cage fighting in the past. Very few, however, have achieved the steady rise Tonon had in his first two years in the sport. In ONE Championship, 'The Lion Killer' amassed an impressive 6-0 record before competing in his first-ever MMA world title fight against Thanh Le at ONE: Lights Out last year.

The name of the event may have been ominous as Le shut Tonon's lights out with a single punch. 'The Lion Killer' immediately bounced back, however, with a solid submission win over Johnny Nunez earlier this year.

With all his MMA exploits in the past few years, it's quite easy to forget that Tonon is one of the most prominent and dominant submission grapplers in the world. His EBI, IBJJF, Pan American, and ADCC world titles speak for themselves.

Back in 2017, Garry Tonon entered the ONE Championship arena not as an MMA fighter yet, but as a submission grappler. He participated in the promotion's first-ever submission grappling match with Japanese MMA and jiu jitsu legend Shinya Aoki. The highly-competitive match ended with Tonon submitting the former ONE lightweight world champion after warding off a few bad positions.

ONE Championship posted the video of the bout on YouTube:

"Before American BJJ ace Garry Tonon faces Russian wrestling star Shamil Gasanov at ONE Fight Night 12 on Prime Video on July 14, relive his electrifying submission grappling masterclass against former ONE Lightweight World Champion Shinya Aoki in 2017!"

Since the historic match, ONE's submission grappling division has grown to be one of the most competitive and exciting arms of the promotion. As of this writing, ONE has two current world champions in submission grappling.

Garry Tonon is now slated to lock horns with undefeated Russian submission artist Shamil Gasanov in a 3-round MMA featherweight match at ONE Fight Night 12 on July 14.

This bout will be a battle of submission artists as Gasanov has quite the arsenal of submissions himself, winning more than half of his wins via tap out.

ONE Fight Night 12 goes down at the iconic Lumpinee Boxing Stadium and will stream live and free on Prime Video in North America.