Just yesterday, Garry Tonon announced that he would be taking on Chael Sonnen at Submission Underground 3 following Hector Lombard’s withdrawal from their original match.
However, following Bellator’s decision to block Sonnen from competing against Tonon, most likely in the hope of keeping him injury free, Tonon now has a new opponent for this weekends event.
Step forward Antonio Carlos Junior!
Carlos Junior competed on Sapateiro 6 this past weekend, losing via submission to Tonon’s team mate Gordon Ryan (the eventual tournament winner). Carlos Junior is a former world champion at brown belt, black belt Pan American champion and currently competes in the UFC middleweight division. The Brazilian has wins over Leandro Lo, Romulo Barral and Bernardo Faria on his resume so safe to say he’s a dangerous opponent for Tonon.
Whether or not the loss last week to Gordon Ryan will effect Carlos Junior going in to this match could be key, with Tonon being an arguably better submission artist than Ryan.
The full card for Submission Underground can be found HERE.
