“It’s really hard to develop a true, good friendship” - Dante Leon explains why connection with Giancarlo Bodini is important for him

Canadian grappling ace Dante Leon admits that competing at the highest level makes it hard to establish true friendship with his peers. He, however, believes he has found a good friend in fellow jiu-jitsu standout Giancarlo Bodoni of the United States.

The 29-year-old Pedigo Submission Fighting affiliate spoke about it in an interview with ONE Championship, underlining how the friendship he has established with Bodoni is important for him as a top athlete.

Leon said:

“That’s just one of the rare things that comes with this sport. When you’re training all the time and you’re at a high level, it’s really hard to develop a true, good friendship with somebody.”

Leon and Bodoni steadily built their friendship through the years of training and competing against each other in different top jiu-jitsu tournaments in the world. Both have had successful campaigns respectively and are considered among the best in what they do.

In explaining their friendship, Dante Leon said it is built on a lot of respect for one another, allowing them to mutually benefit from it both as fighters and individuals.

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Dante Leon confident that Giancarlo Bodoni will do well in ONE Championship

Meanwhile, Giancarlo Bodoni is about to start his journey in ONE Championship later this year. It is something Dante Leon is confident his good friend will do well in.

Bodoni is confirmed to make his debut at ONE 173: Denver on Aug. 1. He is to battle against Rafael Lovato Jr. in an all-American middleweight submission grappling showdown.

In the same interview with ONE Championship, Leon touted the immense talent Bodoni will be coming in with in his promotional debut and how it will set things up for him in his campaign moving forward.

He said:

"I think Giancarlo really has some of the best jiu-jitsu in the world. When you look at somebody like him, he's not blisteringly fast. He is athletic, I will say, but he doesn't do anything acrobatic, super athletic."

Dante Leon added:

"When you watch him do things, you can see step-by-step really what he's doing, and how he's doing it, and how effective he is."

Just as he is excited about Bodoni making his ONE debut, Leon is gearing up for his biggest match to date in ONE Championship next month.

He is vying for the ONE welterweight submission grappling world title against reigning divisional king Tye Ruotolo at ONE Fight Night 31: Kongthoranee vs. Nong-O II on Prime Video on May 2 at the Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.

The world title shot comes after winning his first two matches in the promotion since debuting in December last year.

ONE Fight Night 31 is available live at U.S. primetime to North American fans with an active Amazon Prime Video subscription.