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Marcelo Garcia feels now is the right time to make his long-awaited return to the world of BJJ. Last month, ONE Championship revealed that the promotion had signed the 41-year-old grappling legend.
Shortly after, it was announced that Garcia would make his highly anticipated debut against fellow legend Masakazu Imanari at ONE 170 when the global leader in combat sports returns to Impact Arena in Bangkok, Thailand on Friday, Jan. 24.
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For many grappling fans, the news came completely out of left field considering Garcia has not competed competitively since the 2011 ADCC tournament in Nottingham, England.
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Offering some insight into his surprising return, Garcia told renowned MMA journalist Ariel Helwani that now felt like the right time to step back onto the mat.
"So I feel very happy with ONE Championship," Garcia said. "Everything just matched and I feel like it was the right time. I don't think there's a perfect time. I feel like if I keep looking, waiting for the perfect time, it would be too late. So I feel like it was just the right time."
Here's the interview in its entirety:
Marcelo Garcia's reputation in the BJJ community precedes him
A fourth-degree BJJ black belt, Garcia is considered by many to be one of the pound-for-pound greatest grapplers the sport has ever seen.
Throughout his career, Garcia has topped the podium at the IBJJF world championships on five separate occasions. He has also won gold at the ADCC Submission Fighting World Championship four times. He was later inducted into both the IBJJF and ADCC Hall of Fame.
According to BJJHeroes.com, Garcia has 80 career victories against just 11 losses with 59 of his wins coming via submission — an impressive 74% finish rate.
If you are unfamiliar with Garcia's body of work, you can check out some of his greatest contests courtesy of the embed below, and don't forget to tune in to his ONE Championship debut next month.
ONE 170: Tawanchai vs. Superbon II will air live from Impact Arena in Bangkok, Thailand on Friday, Jan. 24.
