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BJJ legend Marcelo Garcia won't shy away from talking about the rampant use of PEDs in the world of jiu-jitsu.
After more than a decade away from competing, the five-time IBJJF world champion will be back in action this January when ONE Championship heads back to Impact Arena in Bangkok, Thailand for a loaded ONE 170 card.
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Ahead of his highly anticipated return to action, Garcia sat down with renowned MMA journalist Ariel Helwani to discuss a variety of topics, including the pandemic of performance-enhancing drugs in BJJ.
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It's a hot-button issue — one that not everyone is comfortable commenting on, but not Garcia. He has no problem broaching the subject. Garcia told Helwani:
"Oh, I'd love to talk about that. I don't know. Maybe it feels like a hot topic, and maybe that's why all the people don't ask me that too much, but I wish to talk a lot about that."
He added:
"That's one of those reasons [why] I feel like I still want to be involved in the sport because I feel like you don't need that. You just need to have a desire to be there. When I say desire, [it’s that] 'I'm there to prove I'm better than my opponent.'"
Marcelo Garcia faces Masakazu Imanari in his return to action at ONE 170
Nearly 14 years removed from his title-winning run at the 2011 ADCC Submission Fighting World Championship, Marcel Garcia will step back on the mat at ONE 170 for a showdown with Japanese superstar Masakazu Imanari.
It will be Imanari's second time competing in a submission grappling match under the ONE Championship banner, the first coming against former titleholder Mikey Musumeci at ONE 156 in April 2022. Before that, 'Ashikan-Judan' won back-to-back bouts in mixed martial arts, defeating Radeem Rahman and Kwon Won Ill — both by submission.
Will the three-time DEEP world champion remind the world why he is considered one of the greatest grapplers in the history of the sport, or will Marcelo Garcia make the most of his return to the mat and add another iconic name to his hit list?
Fans in the United States and Canada can watch ONE 170: Tawanchai vs. Superbon II will air live on Amazon Prime Video on Friday, January 24 in U.S. primetime.
