Dante Leon Plans Show ‘Skill Gap’ In Long-Awaited Rematch With Tommy Langaker At ONE Fight Night 27
Dante Leon is on a mission to prove he’s the planet’s most skilled pound-for-pound submission grappler.
On January 10 in U.S. primetime, the Canadian standout will return for his sophomore appearance in ONE when he squares off with former two-time ONE World Title challenger Tommy Langaker in a 180-pound catchweight submission grappling tilt at ONE Fight Night 27: Tang vs. Abdullaev on Prime Video.
The high-stakes matchup will be broadcast live from the iconic Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.
Leon looked nothing short of dominant in his much-anticipated promotional debut in December at ONE Fight Night 26, submitting fellow BJJ black belt Bruno “Puccibull” Pucci in just two minutes.
The 29-year-old knows that Langaker represents a step up in competition – a decorated IBJJF No-Gi World Champion who twice pushed reigning ONE Lightweight Submission Grappling World Champion Kade Ruotolo to a decision.
Still, Leon plans to do what Ruotolo couldn’t and make the Norwegian tap. He told onefc.com:
“My goal for this match is to beat Tommy and submit Tommy. That’s my goal for this match. I think it’s me putting an exclamation point on things and really making a statement if I submit Tommy. Tommy is not an easy guy to beat.
“Tommy’s pushed Kade multiple times. He’s beaten a lot of really good people. He has a lot of titles and accolades to go along with it.”
One of those “really good people” Langaker holds a win over is Leon. The pair first collided back in 2018 at the IBJJF Pan-American Championships, with Langaker earning a narrow 2-0 points victory.
Given the time they’ve already shared on the mats, Leon is well aware of his rival’s dangerous and almost impassable guard, also admitting that his foe has evolved as a top-position player in the past few years.
At the same time, he said Langaker likely won’t be able to rely as much on his guard game at ONE Fight Night 27. As perhaps the most well-rounded and technically sound grappler in the sport today, Leon aims to test Langaker in all areas:
“As far as his guard, his guard kinda seems like it’s difficult. It’s frustrating. It was frustrating when I went against him in 2018.
“I’m sure it still stayed the same, but with his strength gains, with the focus on wrestling and him playing top, it will be interesting to see if he keeps his same kind of guard game. It’ll be interesting to see if he keeps that same aspect of his game, or if that suffered a little bit.
“So, we’ll see what his completeness is because I think in this match, it’s gonna have to be on all fronts.”
Ultimately, whether he gets it done with his explosive guard-passing and back-taking game or his dynamic submission attacks from the guard, Leon is primarily focused on finding the stoppage and erasing any doubts as to who the better grappler is.
Finishing a competitor of Langaker’s caliber would further cement the Canadian as an undeniable pound-for-pound powerhouse.
He added:
“To beat somebody like [Langaker] is huge – you beat a Black Belt World Champion. But to submit somebody like that, to control them and submit them, that’s even bigger. With everything that’s attached to that nowadays, I think that has to be the goal going into any match.
“I wanna show that there’s a skill gap between Tommy and I. I wanna prove that to the public, and I wanna handle business, and I wanna finish the match.”
Leon Wants ‘Vindication’ From 2018 Loss To Langaker
If the 2018 clash between Dante Leon and Tommy Langaker is any indication, fans should buckle up for a barnburner in their rematch at ONE Fight Night 27.
For his part, Leon hasn’t forgotten the sting of defeat:
“Tommy and I have a little bit of history. We went against each other in 2018 in the gi. It was a very exciting match, a crazy match. It’s one of the matches that left me kind of wanting to do it again. I obviously wanna get a win back over him.”
In their first encounter, Langaker jumped out to an early lead with a toehold attempt. However, the Norwegian would spend the remainder of the match largely on the defensive, as Leon chained together submission attack after submission attack.
At one point, Leon seemed to have his foe dead to rights with an armbar that bent Langaker’s elbow at a grotesque angle.
He recalled:
“There’s one submission that was super, super deep. It was a kind of a crazy situation. He kinda let his arm go every which way, which, as we have years of watching Tommy grapple, he does that quite often.”
Despite his best efforts, Leon was unable to score any points to overcome the early deficit. The armbar attempt, though, injured Langaker and forced him out of the remainder of the tournament.
Given the result last time around, Leon will have redemption on his mind in Bangkok:
“It’s always been a match, and it’s always been a case where it’s sat in my mind a little bit, and I’ve kinda wanted to have at least another chance to have some vindication for myself.”
