Shamil Gasanov leaning on Garry Tonon to beat Martin Nguyen, but won’t count the former champ out

Fourth-ranked ONE Championship featherweight MMA contender ‘The Cobra’ Shamil Gasanov has vested interest in a pivotal featherweight contest in Japan later this month.

ONE 165: Superlek vs. Takeru at the Ariake Arena in Tokyo on Sunday, January 28th will see former ONE featherweight MMA world champion and no.3-ranked divisional contender ‘The Situ-Asian’ Martin Nguyen take on no.1-ranked ‘The Lion Killer’ Garry Tonon in a potential world title eliminator.

The two are set to lock horns on a massive card in ONE Championship’s return to the ‘land of the rising sun’.

Addressing the media following his latest victory, Gasanov talked about the upcoming Nguyen vs. Tonon showdown and shared his thoughts on the action that is expected to unfold.

‘The Cobra’ said:

“If I place a bet, I think 60 percent will be with Garry and 40 percent will be with Martin. But at the same time, Martin is a really good experienced fighter. And like we cannot just expect a bad fight or bad performance from him.”

Gasanov is all too familiar with Tonon, whom he lost to via submission in their first encounter in July of 2023. Needless to say, Gasanov is looking at a rematch against Tonon in the near future.

---

‘The Cobra’ Shamil Gasanov takes care of business against dangerous South Korean

Fourth-ranked featherweight MMA bet ‘The Cobra’ Shamil Gasanov of Russia successfully defended his spot in the top five rankings of the division with a clear-cut unanimous decision victory over South Korea’s ‘Spider’ Oh Ho Taek.

Gasanov and Oh traded their best shots in the main event of ONE Fight Night 18: Gasanov vs. Oh on Prime Video, which took place at the iconic Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand, on Saturday morning, January 13th.

Fans in the United States and Canada can catch a replay of ONE Fight Night 18: Gasanov vs. Oh on-demand with an active Amazon Prime Video subscription.