Lachlan Giles has officially ended his three-year retirement from professional Jiu-Jitsu – and he’s doing it in the most spectacular way possible.
The Australian black belt will face none other than Marcelo Garcia, one of the greatest grapplers in the history of the sport, at ONE Fight Night 38 on December 5th.
The matchup immediately became one of the biggest stories in the grappling world, not just for its star power, but because it marks Giles’ first competitive appearance since ADCC 2022.
Speaking about his return, Giles admitted that it wasn’t the lure of competition itself that brought him back:
I’ve been happily retired, but I’ve been offered a match I can’t refuse with Marcelo Garcia.
He’s one of my idols and the greatest of all time, and I get a chance to compete against someone in my weight division as well.
So yeah, I couldn’t refuse that one.
Giles went on to explain that this was the only matchup that could have drawn him back to the mats:
Probably there would be no other match I would take except this one.
Here’s a chance to compete against the best of all time in my weight division, so it should be a really exciting match.
It’s a really interesting stylistic matchup.
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