There are rivalries, there is trash talk, and there is legitimate bad blood.

AJ Agazarm is the kind of athlete who invariably finds himself embroiled in any (or all) of the above.

His recent feud with Garry Tonon -- some of their online sparring has been witnessed by the jiu-jitsu community -- is a potent combo of all three.



The thing is, Tonon really does want to fight Agazarm under MMA rules and he is actively campaigning to try and make it a reality.

"But Tonon and Agazarm train together at Renzo Gracie's in NYC," I hear you say. Indeed, this story is complex and there are a number of reasons why things have come to a head.

Here's the TLDR version of why Garry Tonon really, really wants to fight AJ Agazarm:

• AJ Agazarm is very good friends with Rolles, Igor and Gregor Gracie, the three cousins of Renzo Gracie who pretty much run the gym for him in Manhattan.
• Tonon trains daily at Renzo's in Manhattan under the tutelage of John Danaher, one of the top black belt instructors at the gym.
• Agazarm is a renowned world traveler and would regularly drop into the gym to train while in town, usually joining Danaher's open classes and training alongside (and rolling with) Tonon and co.
• Tonon and Agazarm are not on the same team and actually compete against each other, having fought both gi and no-gi. 
• Tonon, Gordon Ryan and other members of the 'Danaher Death Squad' aren't comfortable with Agazarm coming to the training sessions due to his rival team affiliation and outsider status.
• Things came to a head in early November. AJ Agazarm opened a cut on Gordon Ryan's eyebrow during training, just a few days before Ryan was widely expected to win EBI (meaning he lost out on a possible $20,000 payday).
• AJ Agazarm was celebrating alongside the Gracie Barra team at the Studio 540 superfight where Felipe Pena submitted Gordon Ryan just last weekend. 

Those are the cliff notes detailing what is publicly known. Maybe there's more going on between them, because when we asked Tonon why he wanted to fight Agazarm so bad, he said:

Because to his core, as a person, he is truly horrible. One of the few people on Earth I'm confident the world would be better without.

So there you have it. Garry Tonon really, really wants to fight AJ Agazarm.

The question is, would you watch if they did, and who would win?

Related posts:
• Vote for Garry Tonon in the No-Gi Match of the Year
• Vote for Garry Tonon for No-Gi Submission of the Year
• Vote for Garry Tonon as Black Belt of the Year

Watch the trailer for our Garry Tonon documentary, 'Takeover'