Kron Gracie and Garry Tonon have both at one point or another been at the very top of the professional grappling world and they actually met on the mats just back at ADCC 2013. Both men became known for the phenomenal pace that they were able to put on their opponents and the fact that they always hunted the submission finish at all costs. Although they are relatively close in age they were actually at pretty different points in their respective careers when they crossed paths. Gracie had already stood on the podiums of the ADCC and IBJJF World Championship before, whereas Tonon was a relative newcomer to the highest level of the sport making his ADCC debut.
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Kron Gracie vs Garry Tonon – ADCC 2013
Both Kron Gracie and Garry Tonon had impressive performances in their opening round matches at ADCC 2013, as they submitted Jason Manly and Satori Kitaoka respectively. This meant that they would meet one another in the second round and as the returning bronze medalist from ADCC 2011, Gracie was the obvious favorite at the time. Although Tonon was seen as an exciting dark horse who could upset some of the bigger names in the division, nobody predicted just what was going to happen when he came up against Gracie.
The Match
The two men started out by wrestling in the clinch for the position they wanted, when Kron Gracie suddenly jumped to closed guard on Garry Tonon. After a second or two standing Tonon dropped to his knees and Gracie quickly stood back up, only for Tonon to meet him. Gracie tried an armdrag and a footsweep in the exchanges that followed, but he couldn’t get anything to work. That’s when he leapt into a flying armbar and quickly bailed to closed guard when Tonon pulled his arm to safety. Tonon stayed standing this time to try to break free but Gracie worked to a pinch-headlock and dropped his feet to the mat, throwing Tonon off balance and immediately circling to his back.
Garry Tonon dropped to his knees to defend but Kron Gracie quickly executed a rolling backtake to bring him into his lap. Gracie threw one hook in and came up on top with the seatbelt control, slowly working his way to a chair-sit. Tonon was able to get his back flat to the mat though and Gracie chose to drop into mount instead. He slid his knees up high and started to isolate one of Tonon’s arms, using a giftwrap grip to maintain control before going for a chair-sit again. He couldn’t quite get full control of Tonon’s back though and reverted back to mount to continue working on isolating Tonon’s arm.
Gracie got the grips he wanted and sat back into an armbar that was incredibly deep, with Tonon’s arm fully extended. He was cranking for over 10 seconds to get the finish while Tonon was frantically turning in both directions to escape, but Gracie kept his legs hooked behind the back of Tonon’s neck to control him. Garry Tonon eventually managed to stack Kron Gracie and pry his arm free, finishing on top of Gracie in his guard. Gracie framed against Tonon and tried to stand back up but Tonon reached under his legs and started to work towards a double-under pass.
Gracie eventually worked his legs inside to butterfly guard and swung his leg over Tonon’s head to attack an arm, but Tonon ducked under it and started to pass to side control. Gracie rolled over his shoulder into turtle and Tonon slipped one hook in before transitioning to the truck, using it to take the back. They rolled several times but Tonon inched closer each time and eventually locked up the body-triangle to secure the position. Tonon was handfighting for the choke for a while but Gracie managed to turn and get an underhook, allowing him to start slowly pressuring his way to top position.
Kron Gracie almost got there but Garry Tonon took advantage of the momentum and drove his hips into him to take mount. Gracie turned to his side to escape and in doing so, gave up his back once again. Gracie escaped quicker this time and took bottom position, where he was able to push Tonon’s knee down into half-guard. He worked his way back to butterfly guard and they were reset in the center, where Tonon immediately sat back for a leglock. Gracie read the movement and escaped, taking top position and dropping into a heavy knee-slice pass.
Garry Tonon tried to turn to turtle to wrestle-up on one of his opponent’s legs but he gave up his back in the process, and Kron Gracie immediately sunk both hooks in. Tonon tried to stand up to escape but Gracie was able to bring him back down to the mat and he continued handfighting to find the choke. He got his first arm under Tonon’s chin and as Tonon turned to escape, he locked up the choke with his second arm in order to force him to tap. Gracie got the win by submission in regulation time, in what was one of the most exciting matches in ADCC history.
The Aftermath
Garry Tonon was obviously knocked out of the under 77kg bracket, and Kron Gracie progressed to the semi-final for the second time. Gracie submitted a young JT Torres with an armbar to book his place in the final against Otavio Sousa, where he locked up a guillotine choke to take home his first and, to date only, ADCC world title. That wasn’t the last people saw of Tonon at ADCC 2013 though, as he returned in the absolute division on the second day. He lost on points to the eventual silver medalist Marcus ‘Buchecha’ Almeida in the first round and was then asked to return in the second round anyway as an injury replacement, where he lost on points to the eventual champion Roberto ‘Cyborg’ Abreu.
The full footage of Kron Gracie vs Garry Tonon from ADCC 2013 was uploaded to the official YouTube channel of BJJ Scout:
