Marcelo Garcia recently opened up about his upcoming match with Lachlan Giles and explained why he’s looking forward to it so much. The news came as a shock to the BJJ world when ONE Championship announced that the two men would be facing each other at ONE Fight Night 38, but on reflection it seems like it was almost meant to be. For Giles’ part, he was happily retired for several hears until this offer came in and he has already said that this was the only match that could make him rethink that position. It’s not hard to see why either, as Garcia is a legend of the sport.
For Garcia, he was retired for over a decade before making a sensational comeback against Masakazu Imanari at ONE 170 at the beginning of the year. Many people predicted that it might still have been the last time we see him in action, but it seems like facing Giles was enough to keep him in the game. Garcia explained in a recent interview with ONE Championship that he’s actually been a fan of Giles’ for quite some time now:
“I was backstage the first time Lachlan competed at ADCC, and he displayed amazing submissions in the absolute that day. He displayed such amazing Jiu-Jitsu against some really big guys. Seeing someone who competes in my division, who is the same size as me, that made me feel like I want to test myself against someone who showed such beautiful Jiu-Jitsu.”
It’s true that both men are known for their amazing performances against bigger opponents and that’s a big part of why fans have been looking forward to this match. Marcelo Garcia wasn’t actually aware of that when he accepted the match with Lachlan Giles though:
“I didn’t realize all the people were expecting to see this match. I didn’t know that. That made me more inspired to go against him because I didn’t know people were looking (forward) to this match.”
Although Garcia has had a higher level of success in competition, Giles is still one of the best in the world and has the advantage in both age and recent activity. Giles will be a step up in competition from Masakazu Imanari but Garcia thinks that will bring out an even better version of him:
“I have to be able to go over there and show the best Jiu-Jitsu possible. To be able to know that I have somebody on that level, I feel like I could do that. I’m expecting him to give his best. That’s what makes this exciting for me.”
