GARRY TONON

Garry Tonon is one of the founding members of the Danaher Death Squad and the figure most responsible — alongside Eddie Cummings — for establishing the inside heel hook as a high-percentage finish at the highest level of no-gi submission grappling. Born in New Jersey in 1991 and trained initially under Tom DeBlass before joining John Danaher's competitive program at the Renzo Gracie Academy in New York, Tonon competed in the EBI (Eddie Bravo Invitational) and ADCC circuits from 2014 through 2018 with one of the most aggressive submission-hunting styles ever seen in competitive grappling.

Tonon's three consecutive EBI titles (2015, 2016, 2017) were instrumental in establishing the modern leg-lock revolution and the inside-heel-hook as the dominant finishing technique in elite no-gi competition. His matches were characterized by relentless forward pressure, aggressive entries to ashi garami positions, and a willingness to finish via heel hook against opponents who had previously been considered too defensively skilled to be caught. The pedagogical impact of Tonon's competitive style, alongside Cummings's, established the template for the modern leg-lock game that Gordon Ryan would later refine.

In 2018 Tonon transitioned to MMA, signing with ONE Championship. His MMA career has been competitive, with an undefeated record through multiple ONE Featherweight bouts and challenges for the divisional title. Tonon remains one of the most respected technical figures in modern grappling, and his role as a bridge between the BJJ submission grappling community and the MMA world has contributed significantly to the integration of modern leg-lock techniques into competitive MMA in the 2020s.