Dante Leon Vows To Impress Fans With ‘Beautiful Submission’ In ONE Debut Against Bruno Pucci
Decorated Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt Dante Leon hopes to turn heads when he makes his promotional debut this Friday in U.S. primetime at ONE Fight Night 26: Lee vs. Rasulov on Prime Video.
On December 6, the Canadian phenom will square off with fellow BJJ black belt Bruno “Puccibull” Pucci in a lightweight submission grappling tilt that airs live from Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.
With a jam-packed trophy case that includes a pair of IBJJF No-Gi World Titles and multiple ADCC World Championship medals, Leon has done plenty to solidify himself as one of the planet’s top pound-for-pound ground fighters – but he’s yet to showcase his talents on ONE’s massive global platform.
Ahead of his big debut, the 29-year-old described what fans can expect from his well-rounded, fast-paced style of grappling at ONE Fight Night 26:
“To explain to people who haven’t seen it before, it’s some controlled aggression, some controlled rage, I guess you could say. But controlled aggression, I say, would be the best terminology.”
Indeed, Leon is a true master technician mixed with a buzzsaw of activity.
While he’s known for his intense strength training and incredible physicality, he rarely relies on that physicality to win matches. Quite the opposite – he executes precise and measured techniques from all positions, whether he’s playing guard or looking to pass from the top position.
Against Pucci, he plans to take a dominant yet steady approach:
“I’m gonna be very aggressive. I’m gonna be very forward, but I’m gonna be very controlled and measured as well. There’s gonna be nothing reckless. Things will be physical. I will come forward. I won’t take no for an answer at some point in the match, and I will impose my game.
“But my goal is to be in control. My goal is to look smooth. My goal is to look collected, control him, and put him away with something very controlling and very nice and crowd-pleasing for the fans.”
Leon is certainly gunning for a victory, but he said his ultimate goal is to dominate Pucci so thoroughly that his performance leaves a lasting impression.
It’s with positional control, crispy technique, and nonstop aggression that he hopes to achieve a memorable finish:
“A beautiful submission doesn’t need to be flashy. A beautiful submission doesn’t need to be high-flying or something nobody’s ever seen. A beautiful submission can be dominant control from the mount that leads to an armbar or head-and-arm choke, or a back-take straight to a rear-naked choke where you have a body triangle and you’re in full control of your opponent.
“To any even moderately educated eye, that’s the most beautiful display of jiu-jitsu you could really have. So I am gonna be trying to do something that impresses people. I am gonna be trying to do something that makes people say, ‘Wow.'”
Leon Credits Pucci For Accepting Submission Grappling Match
Given his multitude of accomplishments in the worlds of BJJ and submission grappling, Dante Leon’s arrival in ONE Championship has come with no shortage of lofty expectations.
But even though he’s the favorite on paper, that doesn’t mean he’s looking past Bruno Pucci. The Brazilian is a BJJ bloack belt and was a two-time Purple Belt IBJJF No-Gi World Champion before turning to MMA full-time and putting together a respectable 11-fight run in ONE between 2013 and 2022.
For his part, Leon said that “Puccibull” showed all the talent early on to become an elite submission grappler, had he chosen that path:
“He’s one of those guys that if he decided to just stick with jiu-jitsu, who knows? Maybe he could have been a guy who won World Titles and things like that. But, he decided to go to MMA for whatever reason he chose. It looks like it’s been successful for him.”
The Canadian isn’t about to let Pucci score the upset at ONE Fight Night 26, but he is quick to give his foe plenty of credit for jumping back into submission grappling against one of the pound-for-pound best.
Leon added:
“I appreciate him taking the match. I mean, I’m not an easy guy to go against you, not just because of the style, but I’m active. I’m not somebody who you can catch coming off the bench or anything like that.
“So, yeah, I tip my hat to him for that one, for him to come back to grappling. Going against me, it definitely takes some guts for sure, but I’m sure he has no shortage of that given that he’s had a 13-fight MMA career.”
