ONE Championship is switching things up.
The promotion announced Tuesday that former ONE lightweight titleholder Shinya Aoki is slated to meet decorated jiu-jitsu ace Garry Tonon in a grappling-only match as part of its ONE: Dynasty of Heroes event on May 26 in Singapore, which is headlined by Angela Lee’s next defense of her ONE atomweight title.
Aoki (39-7, 1 NC), a mat specialist with 25 submission finishes on his MMA résumé, is no stranger to grappling-only events. The 33-year-old has competed in a litany of such contests throughout his mixed martial arts career, including a 2013 match against Kron Gracie at Metamoris 2 and an infamous exhibition match against Fedor Emelianenko back in 2009.
Late last year, prior to losing his ONE lightweight title in an upset against Eduard Folayang, Aoki actually called for a grappling-only contest against Tonon during an interview with jiu-jitsu website BJJEE.com. Now, it appears, he’ll get his wish.
Tonon is a regular on the jiu-jitsu scene, a black belt under Tom DeBlass and Ricardo Almeida who has won several major tournament titles while also competing under the Metamoris, EBI, and Polaris banners. The American grappler holds mat victories over several names MMA fans may be familiar with, including Vinny Magalhaes, Gilbert Burns, Dillon Danis, Marcin Held, and AJ Agazarm, among others.
ONE: Dynasty of Heroes takes place May 26 at the Singapore Indoor Stadium. Lee looks to defend her title against Muay Thai specialist Istela Nunes in the night’s main event. The card will stream live via online pay-per-view.