WATCH: Garry Tonon works on his stand-up defense ahead of Shamil Gasanov fight at ONE Fight Night 12

At ONE Fight Night 12, Garry Tonon returns to the ONE ring for a high-stake featherweight contest.

Rebounding from the first loss of his MMA career against Thanh Le last time out with a submission against Johnny Nuñez, Tonon is now working his way back to a second shot at gold.

Transitioning to MMA in 2018, the elite submission grappling competitor is still evolving as a mixed martial artist each and every day in the gym.

As one of the best grapplers on the planet, it’s no secret that the American’s striking is one of his weakest areas. However, he is constantly putting time in at the gym to round out his overall game to evolve himself from a one-trick pony to a complete MMA athlete.

At ONE Fight Night 12 on July 14, he will face undefeated Russian contender Shamil Gasanov, who is set to make his first appearance of the year after he was forced to withdraw from February’s contest against Martin Nguyen due to an infection.

Following his debut win over Kim Jae Woong at ONE on Prime Video 3 in October last year, another big win would surely see Gasanov position himself for a title shot.

To add to that, his striking weapons are already pretty solid compared to Tonon, who is still developing his striking

Despite somewhat having a clearer path to victory, that doesn’t mean he will underestimate ‘The Lion Killer,’ though.

On his Instagram profile, Garry Tonon posted a video of him working on his striking defense to avoid getting hit by jabs on his grappling entries:

“Basic jab evasion drill with @onelegsexy leading up to my next @onechampionship matchup July 14th #ONEfightnight12. My brain is important to me. Hitting people is great, but I prefer to do it without getting hit back”

ONE Fight Night 12 will air live and free for North American viewers with an active Amazon Prime Video subscription on Friday, July 14.