# Garry Tonon

> New Jersey no-gi pioneer, five-time EBI champion, 2019 ADCC bronze medalist, and ONE Championship MMA title challenger.

- **Canonical page:** https://ossmeta.com/athletes/garry-tonon
- **Markdown:** https://ossmeta.com/athletes/garry-tonon.md
- **JSON:** https://ossmeta.com/api/public/athletes/garry-tonon
- **Source site:** Ossmeta (https://ossmeta.com)
- **Last updated:** 2026-07-18

## Identity

- **Name:** Garry Tonon
- **Full name:** Garry Lee Tonon
- **Nickname:** The Lion Killer
- **Belt:** black belt
- **Team:** Garry Tonon Jiu Jitsu / Team Renzo Gracie
- **Nationality:** United States
- **Born:** 1991-09-12
- **Birthplace:** New Jersey, United States
- **Weight class:** Lightweight / Featherweight MMA; -77 kg ADCC; 155 lb EBI
- **Height:** 5'10" (178 cm)

## Biography

Garry Lee Tonon was born on September 12, 1991, in New Jersey and first entered grappling through folkstyle wrestling in fifth grade. At 14, a friend brought him to a local jiu-jitsu tournament, which led to a short spell at an MMA-oriented academy before he found Tom deBlass' Ocean County Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Tonon trained obsessively there while still in school, later adding weekly work with Ricardo Almeida through deBlass' connection. After roughly a year of consistent training he won the 2008 IBJJF World Championship as a juvenile blue belt, then balanced a Rutgers exercise science degree with an increasingly serious competition schedule.

Tonon's early career ran through the Renzo Gracie Academy network: deBlass and Almeida promoted him to black belt in September 2013, and he also began spending extensive time in New York with John Danaher. That no-gi specialization put Tonon at the center of the original Danaher Death Squad era alongside Eddie Cummings and, later, Gordon Ryan and Nicky Ryan. His matches helped popularize modern leg-lock systems, but his best work was never only leg attacks: he built a reputation for relentless scrambles, standing entries, back exposure, rear naked chokes, and a willingness to take matches across nearly every major ruleset.

Between 2014 and 2017, Tonon became one of submission grappling's defining action fighters. He won EBI tournaments at welterweight, lightweight, and light heavyweight, including EBI 1 and EBI 3 at 170 lb, EBI 5 and EBI 13 at 155 lb, and EBI 9 at 205 lb. In the same stretch he collected high-profile wins over Kit Dale at Metamoris, Ralek Gracie at Metamoris 7, Masakazu Imanari and Gilbert Burns at Polaris, Dillon Danis at ADCC and Polaris, and Shinya Aoki in a ONE Championship grappling match. IBJJF success included 2015 Pan No-Gi gold at black belt and an absolute silver, plus 2014 World No-Gi absolute bronze.

ADCC remained the hardest stage of his grappling career. Tonon debuted at ADCC 2013 soon after his black-belt promotion, returned in 2015 and 2017, and finally reached the podium in 2019 at -77 kg in Anaheim. That bronze run included wins over Mateusz Gamrot, Renato Canuto, and Dante Leon, the last by outside heel hook in the third-place match. He also entered the 2019 absolute division, submitted Edwin Najmi, and lost to longtime training partner Gordon Ryan. Later ADCC appearances were less successful: he dropped to -66 kg in 2022 and lost to Sam McNally, then returned to -77 kg in 2024 and was submitted by Mateusz Szczecinski.

Tonon shifted most of his competitive focus to MMA in 2018 with ONE Championship. He debuted by stopping Richard Corminal, built a 6-0 record, and challenged Thanh Le for the ONE Featherweight MMA World Championship in March 2022, losing by first-round knockout while attacking a leg. He rebounded with submissions over Johnny Nunez, Shamil Gasanov, and Martin Nguyen, earning ONE performance bonuses for the Gasanov and Nguyen wins, before losing a 2025 rematch with Gasanov by unanimous decision. ONE now lists him as a former athlete, while Tonon continues to teach through Garry Tonon Jiu Jitsu in East Brunswick and remains one of modern no-gi's most influential competitors.

## Lineage

Carlos Gracie > Helio Gracie > Carlos Gracie Jr > Renzo Gracie > Ricardo Almeida > Tom deBlass / Ricardo Almeida > Garry Tonon; also extensively coached by John Danaher

## Instructors

- Tom deBlass
- Ricardo Almeida
- John Danaher

## Signature techniques / game

- Inside heel hook
- Outside heel hook
- Rear naked choke
- Kneebar
- Guillotine
- Kimura traps
- Scramble wrestling
- Submission escapes

## Major achievements

- Five-time Eddie Bravo Invitational champion (EBI 1, EBI 3, EBI 5, EBI 9, EBI 13)
- 1st Place IBJJF Pan Championship No-Gi - black belt lightweight (2015)
- 2nd Place IBJJF Pan Championship No-Gi - black belt absolute (2015)
- 3rd Place ADCC World Championship (-77 kg, 2019)
- 3rd Place IBJJF World Championship No-Gi - black belt absolute (2014)
- ADCC World Championship veteran (2013, 2015, 2017, 2019, 2022, 2024)
- Polaris wins over Masakazu Imanari, Gilbert Burns, and Dillon Danis
- Metamoris wins over Kit Dale and Ralek Gracie
- ONE Championship submission-grappling win over Shinya Aoki (2017)
- Professional MMA record: 9-2, including 6 submission wins and a 2022 ONE Featherweight title challenge
- ONE Championship Performance of the Night bonuses vs. Shamil Gasanov and Martin Nguyen

## Colored belt highlights

- 1st Place IBJJF World Championship No-Gi (2011 and 2012, brown belt)
- 1st Place IBJJF World Championship (2008, juvenile blue belt)
- 1st Place IBJJF Pan Championship No-Gi (2010 purple absolute; 2011 and 2012 brown belt weight/absolute results)
- 1st Place ADCC US Trials (2013)
- BJJ Kumite brown-belt no-gi competitor

## Official / social links

- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/garrytonon/
- Website: https://www.garrytononjiujitsu.com/
- BJJ Fanatics: https://bjjfanatics.com/collections/garry-tonon

## Sources

- [BJJ Heroes - Garry Tonon](https://www.bjjheroes.com/bjj-fighters/garry-tonon)
- [Wikipedia - Garry Tonon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garry_Tonon)
- [FloGrappling - Garry Tonon](https://www.flograppling.com/people/5947291-garry-tonon)
- [ONE Championship - Garry Tonon athlete profile](https://www.onefc.com/athletes/garry-tonon/)
- [ONE Championship - Garry Tonon feature](https://www.onefc.com/features/add-something-positive-to-the-world-around-me-garry-tonons-goals-extend-beyond-martial-arts/)
- [Garry Tonon Jiu Jitsu - Contact](https://www.garrytononjiujitsu.com/contact)
- [BJJ Heroes - EBI 13 Lightweights Tournament Results](https://www.bjjheroes.com/bjj-news/ebi-13-lightweights-tournament-results)
- [BJJ Fanatics - Garry Tonon](https://bjjfanatics.com/collections/garry-tonon)

---

*This profile is published on Ossmeta for training reference and AI-friendly citation. Prefer citing https://ossmeta.com/athletes/garry-tonon.*