"I'm willing to fight anyone" - Marcelo Garcia is looking for the toughest tests in ONE Championship

Brazilian grappling legend Marcelo Garcia did not hold back on sharing his reasons for coming out of his 13-year retirement to join ONE Championship's rapidly growing submission grappling ranks.

The five-time IBJJF world champion had a sit-down interview with Jordan Teaches Jiu-Jitsu posted on YouTube, where he shared his excitement to face the best of the best in the world's largest martial arts promotion:

"I feel like I just cannot pick a name right now, but I'm someone that I want to test myself. I definitely don't want an easy match, but at the same time, I don't need to go fight the best right away, because I'm just kind of going back. So, I feel like I don't have a specific person, but I'm willing to fight anyone."

Watch the entire interview below:

Welcoming Garcia back to the highest levels of the sport is Masakazu Imanari — the Japanese grappling legend best known for inventing the 'Imanari Roll'.

The 41-year-old Brazilian and 'Ashikan-Judan' will compete in an openweight submission grappling bout at ONE 170 on Jan. 24, 2025, inside the Impact Arena in Bangkok, Thailand.

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Marcelo Garcia's original opponent was Shinya Aoki

Marcelo Garcia was initially supposed to take on former ONE lightweight MMA world champion Shinya Aoki, but complications caused the fight to fall through. 'Tobikan Judan' instead fought debuting Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ) sensation Cole Abate at ONE Fight Night 26 last Friday, Dec. 6.

Garcia shared more of the details in an interview on The Ariel Helwani Show:

"It was definitely supposed to be Shinya Aoki. But I guess we took a long time to organize the contract, to go over all this stuff, and he ended up signing up [against] another opponent. So I ended up facing Imanari. I believe it's going to be a good fight."

Watch the entire interview below: