Marcelo Garcia made a triumphant return to grappling after 13 years by defeating Masakazu Imanari with a north-south choke in a 10-minute openweight contest in Bangkok, expressing his eagerness to continue competing and face Shinya Aoki next.
Marcelo Garcia’s return to the grappling scene? Absolutely stellar.
The five-time jiu-jitsu world champ and four-time ADCC gold medalist stepped into the ONE cage in Bangkok, Thailand. It was his first match in over 13 years. And he made quick work of MMA veteran Masakazu Imanari in a 10-minute openweight bout.
Right from the get-go, Garcia went for a single leg takedown. Imanari caught him in half guard, but Garcia passed to side control and then mounted. He went for an arm-triangle choke—Imanari defended well—but then Garcia switched to a north-south choke. Imanari tapped out.
Check out the finish below.
Throughout his career, Garcia has defeated top names like Andre Galvao, Ricco Rodriguez, Renzo Gracie, Demian Maia, and Kron Gracie. This match marked his return after battling stomach cancer. He was thrilled to be back.
“Come on, you guys can see, this is like a dream,” an emotional Garcia said post-victory. “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.”
At 42, Garcia isn’t slowing down. He plans to face Shinya Aoki next in the ONE cage. They first clashed at ADCC in 2005, where Garcia won via rear-naked choke and advanced to the semifinals. That year, he claimed gold with wins over Leonardo Santos and Pablo Popovitch and took bronze in the absolute by tapping Alexandre Ribeiro.
“I have a lot of fights ahead on my contract,” Garcia noted. “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.”