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ONE Championship's latest Russian acquisition, Shamil Gasanov, made a triumphant debut in the promotion at ONE on Prime Video 3. It wasn't an easy task as he was put in front of one of the most lethal strikers in the division, Kim Jae Woong.
Despite entering the promotion pitted against a former no.1-ranked contender, Gasanov only needed two minutes to dispatch his South Korean foe. This didn't mean, however, that Kim didn't pose any sort of danger in the fight.
Speaking to ONE Championship, Shamil Gasanov spoke about what it feels like to get hit by one of Kim Jae Woong's fight-ending strikes:
"Yes, he's a very strong guy, he just slept on it. He missed the moment, and I managed to catch him and that's all. His punches were very painful!"
The undefeated Russian continued with:
"Well, he did not have enough time to surprise me because the fight was over quickly, but his low kicks hurt a lot."
Gasanov did the correct gameplan by not messing with Kim on the feet as that would be a recipe for disaster for anybody. Closing the distance and putting him on his back won't allow the South Korean to throw his power shots. It's a classic strategy to soundly beat a KO artist.
Shamil Gasanov welcomes a budding rivalry with former ONE featherweight world title challenger Garry Tonon
After his statement-making ONE debut, Shamil Gasanov skyrocketed himself into the top 5 of the featherweight division. Hunting for the next big challenge of his career, Gasanov specifically called out former world title challenger and Jiujitsu icon Garry Tonon.
In reply to the call out, 'The Lion Killer' took to Twitter:
"@shamilcobra says I don't last 5 minutes with him. What do you think? Do I succumb to the mixed martial arts Russian invasion? Or do I break off his leg, use it to fly our flag, and make Ronald Reagan and the American people."
Gasanov was made aware of Tonon's response and in an interview with ONE Championship, the undefeated Russian said:
“He is nothing more than an American trash talker. If he thinks he can break off my leg, I can rip his head off and mail it back to the States after the fight.”
With ONE featherweight king Tang Kai freshly sitting at the throne right now, a new challenger is to be determined soon. Perhaps the winner of a possible match between Gasanov and Tonon should be next? We'll see.
