WATCH: Garry Tonon’s stunning heel hook finish of Shinya Aoki in groundbreaking submission grappling match

Former ONE featherweight world title challenger Garry Tonon made a historic debut in ONE Championship in May 2017 at ONE: Dynasty of Heroes as he fought former ONE lightweight world champion Shinya Aoki in a lightweight submission grappling match, which was the first of its kind in the promotion.

Tonon made sure to impress in his maiden match in the world’s largest martial arts organization by pulling off a heel hook submission that made the Japanese legend tap and begin his ONE Championship run on a winning note.

This victory by ‘The Lion Killer’ was reposted by ONE Championship on their YouTube channel, and they wrote the description:

"Before American BJJ superstar Garry Tonon squares off with former two-division ONE World Champion Martin Nguyen in a crucial featherweight MMA battle at ONE 165, relive his stunning heel hook finish of Japanese MMA legend Shinya Aoki in their historic 2017 grappling showdown!”

The former multiple-time BJJ world champion immediately jumped into ‘Tobikan Judan’ but ended up in the bottom position and was pressed against the cage for a good two minutes before maneuvering into a heel hook attempt.

After once again being controlled back against the cage, Tonon used the cage wall to stand up at the 11:25 mark of the bout. He attempted to reverse the position, but Aoki jumped on his back and attempted a rear-naked choke submission.

Tonon made a big explosion to escape the threat of Aoki’s RNC attempt and quickly got up to his feet. The 32-year-old American then proceeded to march on forward and became more aggressive until he finally navigated his way into the incredible heel hook finish at the 7:47 mark of the bout to officially pick up his first ONE Championship victory.

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Gary Tonon to face former ONE featherweight world champion Martin Nguyen at ONE 165

Following that dream debut in ONE Championship, Tonon won eight of his next 10 fights in the promotion and challenged for the world title. Unfortunately, he came up short and was knocked out by Thanh Le during their championship showdown in March 2022 at ONE: Lights Out.

Tonon is now set to face the former featherweight king Martin Nguyen on January 28 at ONE 165 in a world title eliminator match to determine the next challenger for the 26-pound golden belt. The two superstars will go head-to-head inside the Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Japan.