Kim Terra may not agree with the marketing strategy of the Danaher competitors -- and has even had a couple altercations with them in the past -- but he nevertheless has no lack of respect for his opponent in the upcoming Studio 540 Superfight Series.

This Saturday, Terra will face off against Garry Tonon in a submission-only match held at Studio 540 in Solana Beach, California. FloGrappling is offering new users a 7-day free trial around this event. Sign up today.



"I was in Brazil enjoying my birthday when I got the message about this fight, and there was no doubt in my mind that I would take it," Terra said. "For me, it's not about honor or pride or anything like that. I just like fighting. Especially a fight like this against a dangerous, worthy opponent like Garry. The next day I started getting ready for it." 

In fact, the invite came from Tonon himself.

"As soon as I saw the message, I accepted, and he replied right away," Terra said. "He said, 'Are you OK with the rules?' And I said, 'What are the rules?' Because I didn't read the message completely. And as he was typing, I was like, 'You know what, I don't care about the rules.'"



The match will consist of one 30-minute round, and, in the case of no submissions, overtime rounds under EBI rules.

This will be the first time Terra will be fighting the Danaher superstar, although it could have been a rematch had Terra not injured himself in the semifinals of EBI 5 last December. Terra lost in overtime to Rafael Domingos, who then went on to face Tonon in the finals.

"I've been wanting to fight him since last year," Terra said. "So it's a great opportunity."

Tonon even offered to drop weight for the fight, as Terra is naturally the lighter competitor.

"But I said it was unnecessary. We could just do a no-weight-limit fight. I probably walk around 10 pounds lighter than him. I'm pretty sure that's not what's going to decide the match," Terra said. "I've always fought light weight, even though I was way below the weight limit. I've always fought absolute divisions, every time. Weight's not an issue for me."



Since accepting the fight little more than two weeks ago, Terra has wasted no time in preparing. Although he won't have best friend Yuri Simoes on the mats -- Simoes is currently on holiday in Brazil -- the Caio Terra Academy is full of top-level training partners, including Terra's own famous brother.

The CTA competition team already has plenty of practice preparing its athletes for submission-only tournaments. In addition to Terra's participation in EBI 5, Simoes fought in EBI 6 last April, and brown belt Ryan Walsh was in EBI 9 this past month. EBI champion Denny Prokopos, Eddie Bravo's first black belt, is also a regular on the mats.

Additionally, Terra has been studying Tonon's game, finding patterns in his opponent's attacks.

"At the same time that he is a dangerous kind of unpredictable fighter, he is a little bit predictable too in that sense that he does the same setups every time."

That doesn't mean Terra isn't expecting a tough battle.

"I respect him as a jiu-jitsu fighter -- he's a great fighter," Terra said. "He's not only dangerous with leg locks. Even before he started training with Danaher, he was already a dangerous fighter. ... I know just knowing his game isn't going to be enough. When it comes down to it, it's going to be who wants it more."​​

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