“It hurt pretty bad” – Garry Tonon admits Martin Nguyen’s one landed punch made him thankful for jiu-jitsu

Garry Tonon may have made relatively quick work of Martin Nguyen at ONE 165, but that doesn’t mean he didn’t get a taste of the former two-division world titleholder’s power.

Emanating from Tokyo’s Ariake Arena, ONE Championship delivered another loaded night of fights, one of which featured a high-stakes featherweight clash between ‘The Lion Killer’ and Nguyen. As expected, Tonon put his grappling skills to work early and was able to secure the submission victory before the end of the opening round.

But in an exclusive interview with Sportkeeda MMA, Tonon revealed that his aggressive grappling attack came with a price.

“He landed one solid strike while I had his back and it hurt pretty bad,” Tonon said. “So I can only imagine what it would have been like if I was standing there trading punches with him."

He added:

“I said it last fight and I'll say it this fight, thank God for jiu-jitsu. I do a hell of a ton of tough training getting hit in the face and things like that.”

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Garry Tonon is likely next for the winner of Tang Kai vs. Thanh Le at ONE 166

With the win over Martin Nguyen in Japan, Garry Tonon has re-established himself as the featherweight division’s top-ranked contender and likely finds himself as the next man in line for a title opportunity.

Tang Kai, the reigning featherweight MMA world champion, is set to defend his world title in a highly anticipated rematch with former titleholder Thanh Le later this year.

Who do you want to see ‘The Lion Killer’ challenge for the featherweight division’s biggest prize later this year?

If you missed any of the action or want to relive an epic night in ONE Championship history, the ONE 165 replay can be watched on demand via watch.onefc.com.