The return of legendary grappler Marcelo Garcia couldn’t have gone any better.
The five-time jiu-jitsu world champion, and four-time ADCC gold medalist, entered the ONE cage Friday in Bangkok, Thailand, for his first grappling match in over 13 years, and made short work of longtime MMA veteran Masakazu Imanari in a 10-minute openweight contest.
Garcia immediately pressed Imanari and shot for a single leg takedown. Imanari had him locked in half guard, but Garcia eventually passed to side control and mounted. The Brazilian attacked with an arm-triangle choke, which was well-defended by Imanari, but then transitioned to a north-south choke that forced Imanari to tap.
Watch the finish below.
HE'S BACK Fresh off of beating cancer, Marcelo Garcia submits fellow grappling legend Masakazu Imanari via north-south choke! #ONE170 | LIVE NOW
— ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) January 24, 2025
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The legendary fighter, who has beaten the likes of Andre Galvao, Ricco Rodriguez, Renzo Gracie, Demian Maia and Kron Gracie throughout his grappling career, was happy to be in action for the first time since beating stomach cancer.
“Come on, you guys can see, this is like a dream,” an emotional Garcia said after the win. “It’s hard to believe what I went through the last few years and look where I am. You gotta follow your dreams, chase your dreams.”
The 42-year-old grappler said he wants to waste no time on the sidelines, and plans to face Shinya Aoki next in the ONE cage. Garcia and Aoki first met on the ADCC mat in 2005, when Garcia won via rear-naked choke to advance to the semifinals. He claimed gold in his division that year with wins over and Leonardo Santos and Pablo Popovitch, and captured bronze in the absolute after tapping Alexandre Ribeiro.
“I have a lot of fights ahead on my contract,” Garcia said. “I didn’t wait like 13 years, almost 14 years, to do this and then wait any longer. So I want to do this as soon as possible. … There’s a match that was supposed to be this before one. Shinya Aoki was supposed to be my first, so I’m still waiting for him.”
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