Shamil Gasanov on why he wanted to fight Garry Tonon so badly: “I knew he was a strong grappler”

Rising Russian MMA star and current third-ranked ONE Championship featherweight MMA contender ‘The Cobra’ Shamil Gasanov is coming off an important three-round victory over American rival ‘The Lion Killer’ Garry Tonon at ONE Fight Night 34 on Prime Video last weekend.

Afterward, Gasanov revealed that he had always wanted to fight Tonon, which is why he lobbied so hard for the rematch. He wanted to beat the submission grappling icon to bolster his resume.

Speaking during the ONE Fight Night 34 post-fight interviews, Gasanov explained his motivation for pursuing the dangerous matchup with the BJJ icon.

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‘The Cobra’ addressed the media:

"I called him out when I joined the league because I knew he was a strong grappler. I knew he was a strong opponent, and I lost that fight. Although I do think I was dominating the fight for a while, in the end, I did lose. I am happy that I got my revenge today. It was important to me."

Gasanov and Tonon locked horns in a three-round featherweight MMA contest at ONE Fight Night 34: Eersel vs. Jarvis on Prime Video, which went down live from the iconic Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand last Saturday, August 2.

Fans in the United States and Canada can catch all the action via replay on-demand with an active Amazon Prime Video subscription.

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Shamil Gasanov says he was confident he had Garry Tonon beat when the scorecards were read at ONE Fight Night 34 on Prime Video

‘The Cobra’ Shamil Gasanov maintains that he was confident the decision would be read in his favor when it was all said and done with ‘The Lion Killer’ Garry Tonon at ONE Fight Night 34 on Prime Video last weekend.

‘The Cobra’ took home a hard-fought unanimous decision victory.

Afterward, he told the media backstage:

“(Via translator) Yeah, confident in the first two rounds that he knew that he was winning the first two rounds. So by the end of that, he was happy with his results.”

Stay tuned to Sportskeeda MMA for all the latest news and updates surrounding Shamil Gasanov’s next fight.

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Edited by Saiyed Adeem Karim