Garry Tonon recently opened up about a pivotal moment in his career: his first knockout loss during an MMA match…
Despite which he is not willing to give up Leg Lock attacks in mixed martial arts.
Tonon’s transition from submission grappling to MMA was marked by a series of impressive victories.
However, during his title fight against Thanh Le, Tonon – while attempting a Leg Lock – found himself on the receiving end of Le’s defensive strikes, leading to a knockout loss.
Tonon acknowledged the impact of this experience on his future approach:
It gives hesitation under certain circumstances.
Like, it definitely adds a certain gravity to being in certain situations in a fight.There’s no question that the next time I’m in a bottom situation in an Ashi Garami that I’m gonna have a little bit more urgency to potentially get back up as opposed to just looking for the finish.
It would be hard to take that moment and not get something out of it in that regard.
He is not willing to give up Leg Locks in the octagon, however.
The reason? They work:
It depends on the circumstances man, you know?
In my last fight I was able to roll into a submission hold that there was no question, there was no way that he was gonna be able to hurt me from that position.It’s just that the approach might be a little different, the conditions might be a little bit different, there might be a little more urgency now when I’m in certain situations because I’ve really felt the danger of being on bottom, looking for a Leg Lock.
