Reflections on the Singapore adventure: Garry Tonon won his super fight with Shinya Aoki with one of his trademark moves last night in front of a packed stadium and a very large TV audience. Going beyond that, there was much about the event that was gratifying to observe. First, it was wonderful to see a grappling match showcased on the main card of a big MMA event. It was great to see the crowd get excited to see two grapplers use their skills to put on an exciting match with a decisive finish that got as much audience reaction as the MMA fights. I TRULY BELIEVE THAT PROFESSIONAL GRAPPLING, TAUGHT AND PRACTICED THE RIGHT WAY, CAN BE EVERY BIT AS EXCITING AS AN MMA FIGHT AND DIRECTLY RELATED TO THE SKILLS THAT CAN BRING victory IN MMA. I hope this is the first of many such combined MMA/grappling shows and that the divide between the sports can be narrowed. I hope that one day the athletes who represent our sport and who give so much in their pursuit of excellence can be rewarded with money and fame closer to that of their MMA brothers. I believe advances in this direction will be of great benefit to both sports. I hope that one day there can be professional grappling events on a scale not far below MMA events where athletes can showcase their skills in an exciting format that thrills crowds, advances their skill level, helps prepare them to transition more easily to MMA and compensates them for their commitment. Second, it was wonderful to see a resurgence in Asian MMA. Asia was one of the key birthplaces of our sport – there is a culture of respect here for the athletes and the skills they showcase that is unique and deeply admirable. We North Americans could learn much from them in this regard. It was great to see One FC put on a tremendous show that brought back memories of PRIDE and the glory days of Asian MMA – they just need more development time to grow and who knows how far they can go! Tomorrow we teach a big seminar here in Singapore where we will show some of the techniques Mr Tonon used to gain his victory to the local jiu jitsu athletes then back to NYC and the blue basement of learning to get ready for the next show!
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