ONE Championship: Shamil Gasanov Seeks Redemption Against Garry Tonon at ONE Fight Night 34

Add as a preferred source on Google

Dagestani wrestling powerhouse Shamil Gasanov joined ONE Championship with a single mission to capture the ONE World Title, and he has been taking it one step at a time to reach the top of the division.

On 2 August, "The Cobra" will face American BJJ legend Garry Tonon in a featherweight MMA rematch in the co-main event of ONE Fight Night 34. Their first encounter took place in July 2023, where "The Lion Killer" secured a spectacular submission victory via kneebar.

That defeat remains the only stain on the #3-ranked contender's otherwise pristine career record. The 29-year-old Russian is well aware of this fact. Gasanov said after losing their first battle, he wanted an immediate rematch with the American.

"After losing to Tonon the first time, I've always wanted to come back as soon as possible to get another fight with Garry," Gasanov said. Despite losing, honestly, apart from his grappling, he didn't show anything else in that fight."

Gasanov's martial arts journey began with freestyle wrestling, and he also holds various grappling titles. However, against Tonon, he couldn't match his rival's grappling prowess. This time, he has been putting in significant effort to close the gap that was evident in their first encounter.

"I've been training hard over the past month. We have paid a lot of attention to grappling for this rematch. Grappling has always been an area that I focus on a lot. But for this fight, I paid two times more attention than usual because of Tonon's grappling game," Gasanov admitted.

Forged in the mountainous lands of Dagestan, Gasanov is confident that he will put on a solid show and will do everything to secure the win. He also emphasized that his dream is to finish the fight in the first round.

"I'm going to put on a dominant performance everywhere. I'll look for any method to beat him and to win this fight. The dream would be to finish this fight in the first round, by submission or TKO," Gasanov said.