Watch: Garry Tonon’s relentless pursuit of leglocks

Multi-time Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champion Garry Tonon has achieved success at every level of combat sport he has entered. Receiving his BJJ black belt in 2013, Tonon is a five-time Eddie Bravo Invitational champion who has won multiple IBJJF (International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation) world championships.

Tonon has amassed 72 wins in his submission grappling career with an astonishing 53 coming by way of submission. This can be attributed to Tonon’s relentless pursuit of submissions, particularly leg locks.

31 of Tonon’s 53 submissions have come by way of a heel hook, knee bar, or toe hold, the one exception being a calf slicer submission against Rob Greenidge in 2015.

ONE Championship gave fans a glimpse into 'The Lion Killer's' exquisite grappling on their official Instagram page. In the video clip, Tonon can be seen working for a leg lock, with the caption:

“Garry Tonon hunts the limbs 😱 ”

Check out the Instagram post below:

Making the transition to mixed martial arts in 2018, Tonon showed the world that he was more than a submission specialist when he defeated Richard Corminal by TKO in his MMA debut at ONE: Iron Will.

‘The Lion Killer’ would go on to win five straight in the circle to earn a shot at ONE featherweight world champion Thanh Lee.

The two squared off at ONE: Lights out on March 11. 30 seconds into the opening round, the two fighters clinched and Tonon immediately dropped down for his patented heel hook. In his pursuit,

‘The Lion Killer’ left his head open, allowing Le to rain down hammer fists that eventually put Tonon to sleep just under the one-minute mark.

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Grappling superstar Danielle Kelly inspired by Garry Tonon’s successful transition to MMA

Danielle Kelly made her ONE Championship debut at the promotion's 10th-anniversary card ONE X in March. There, she faced Mei Yamaguchi in a submission grappling bout. Though Kelly could not secure a finish, Kelly’s dominance throughout the 12-minute contest scored her a $50,000 performance bonus.

Kelly plans to continue competing in submission grappling matches under the ONE banner but intends to make the transition to MMA in the near future. Her inspiration for such a transition has been grappling wizard Garry Tonon. ‘The Lion Killer’ made a name for himself in submission grappling, but currently holds an MMA record of 5-1 in the circle.

While speaking to South China Morning Press, Kelly said:

“I’ve been watching Garry Tonon ever since he had his first ONE fight. I’m still amazed how he puts his jiu-jitsu and wrestling into MMA, all together. That’s what gives me confidence. If you look at other high-level jiu-jitsu athletes in MMA, they’re doing pretty well.”

Kelly is yet to reveal a timetable for her first MMA contest, but let it be known that she has been working on her striking for quite some time:

“Eventually, I want to be in the atomweight [MMA] division and dominate. I’ve been working on my striking, even before the pandemic happened – and still working on my jiu-jitsu because I think it’s important for MMA.”