Garry Tonon is known for three things in BJJ. Entertainment, leg locks and escapes. Focusing on the latter two, it’s fair to say that he knows more than most about the breaking mechanics of leg locks and how to escape seemingly impossible submissions.
In a recent Instagram video, Tonon showed footage of him applying a harsh kneebar on opponent AJ Agazarm. Whilst Agazarm didn’t tap, you could see the pain in his movements and his knee was bent badly. Tonon started by saying “To this day the absolute worst break I have ever achieved in competition. Had this been No-gi (making the break more visible to the naked eye) this would likely go down as the worst knee bar break in professional combat sports history“.
Interestingly, around the time of Tonon’s post, Agazarm was having surgery on his knee which was damaged in an MMA fight. Whilst it’s purely speculation, it does make you wonder if his knee was damaged years back from the kneebar applied by Tonon. Tonon later added “I get questions like “what made it so difficult for you to get that guy? What was he doing to defend?… Now years later they are getting knee reconstructions.”
We asked Tonon on Instagram if the same logic could be applied to the Miyao’s or whether they were just very flexible. Tonon replied and said, “Both of them had knee surgeries they have scars on their legs from it”. If what Tonon is saying is correct, then this dispels the myths around the Miyao brothers that their legs are invincible or that they have some kind of magic, unknown leg defense. Again, if Tonon is right then this will probably be revealed over the next few years as to whether the Miyao’s have severely damaged legs or not.
