All eyes were on Garry Tonon as he challenged Thanh Le for ONE Championship’s featherweight title on Friday at Lights Out.
The Singapore card had already seen one title change hands, as John Lineker had knocked out Bibiano Fernandes in the co-main event. Tonon was looking to dethrone another champ in Le, who was making his first title defense in the fight.
Tonon got the fight where he wanted it within a minute, working on a leg — but it was simply not his night. When the heel hook submission wasn’t there, Tonon rolled, still working off his back only to be brutally knocked out by Thanh Le. A couple of punches was all it took: Tonon was out cold.
If there was a lesson to be learned for Garry Tonon, it was that he held onto the leg too long. Something you can get away with in jiu-jitsu more often than not. Just not in MMA.
With the win, Thanh Le improves to 13-2 as a pro, and has won his last five fights. Defeating one of the world’s top jiu-jitsu practitioners in Tonon underscores just how glaring an oversight Le’s snub on Dana White’s Contender Series in 2017 was. Despite picking up a victory via head kick on the show, he was denied a UFC contract by Dana White — and it now seems like the UFC’s loss was definitely ONE Championship’s gain.
Official Result: Thanh Le (c) def. Garry Tonon by knockout, Round 1, 0:56 – for the ONE featherweight championship
