John Danaher explains why Garry Tonon’s slick triangle game is often overlooked

John Danaher, the mad genius behind the success of ONE Championship featherweight world title contender Garry Tonon, is a bonafide martial arts master. Danaher is a coach, trainer and mentor not just to Tonon, but some of the best grapplers and fighters the world has ever seen - Gordon Ryan, Nicky Ryan, Eddie Cummings, Georges St-Pierre and Chris Weidman, just to name a few.

His close relationship with Tonon helped the latter win multiple grappling world titles and six straight MMA wins, leading to an eventual world title shot. The way Danaher breaks down technique and the practical and psychological aspects of combat is something akin to Bruce Lee's philosophies.

In a recent Instagram post by Garry Tonon, the American grappler shared photos of a class where he taught triangle choke set-ups from the Sankaku leglock position.

See the post below:

John Danaher left an insightful comment about his student:

"You know it’s an odd thing - you have a very good triangle game but no one really thinks of triangles when they think of Garry Tonon. I think the problem was that you are too damn good at heel hooks so no one ever gets to see your triangle game!"

Danaher is right. Tonon made a name for himself by becoming one of the best at leglock submissions, particularly the inside heel hook. He became so legendary with it that no one paid attention to the other techniques that he's great at, one of them being the triangle choke.

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ONE Championship featherweight standout Garry Tonon will join ADCC this year

Beloved submission grappling icon and ONE featherweight star Garry Tonon will return to his no-gi jiu-jitsu roots this year. The colorful submission specialist announced that he will be part of the upcoming ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championship.

Making the announcement on Instagram, 'The Lion Killer' will be competing in the 66kg category in one of the longest-running and most prestigious grappling competitions in history.

Tonon became famous in ADCC when he had one of the greatest matches in the tournament's history against the famous Kron Gracie. Tonon effectively announced his arrival in the grappling world when he gave one of the best grapplers of his generation a run for his money.

Watch the full match and commentary by Kron Gracie here: