“Training with even greater intensity - Shamil Gasanov says tough fight with Halil Amir showed him what he needs to work on 

After going toe-to-toe with Halil Amir for three rounds, Shamil Gasanov knows what he needs to focus on ahead of a potential ONE world title opportunity.

'The Cobra' scored his third straight win and moved to 4-1 under the ONE banner with a solid showing against Amir at ONE Fight Night 26 inside the legendary Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok.

The victory not only solidified Gasanov as the fourth-ranked contender in the featherweight MMA division but also established him as a legitimate candidate to take on the winner of next month's title tilt between reigning featherweight king Tang Kai and unbeaten star Akbar Abdullaev at ONE Fight Night 27 on January 10.

During his post-fight interview immediately following ONE Fight Night 26, Gasanov recognizes that he's going to have to train even harder if he hopes to hang with fighters toward the top of the rankings.

"This fight was a good test for me," Gasanov said. "Now I know I need to work even harder on my physical conditioning and continue training with even greater intensity."

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Is Shamil Gasanov the next man in line at featherweight?

So far, Shamil Gasanov has faced a gauntlet of solid featherweight MMA talent, including Kim Jae Woong, Oh Ho Taek, Aaron Carnate, and of course, Halil Amir.

Arguably, that quartet of wins is more than enough to land him his first shot at 26 pounds of ONE Championship gold, but some other athletes in the top five may have something to say about that — like former ONE world champions Thanh Le and Martin Nguyen who hold the one and three spots in the rankings respectively.

There's also second-ranked contender Ilya Freymanov, who is coming off his first loss inside the Circle against Thanh Le at ONE Fight Night 15 last year via a 62-second heel-hook submission.

Has Gasanov done enough to face the winner, Tang vs. Abdullaev, or does the Russian star have a little more work to do in the division first?

If you missed any of the action, ONE Championship fans in the United States and Canada can watch the ONE Fight Night 26 replay on demand via Amazon Prime Video.