“I can fight the guy who loses” – Shamil Gasanov keeping a close eye on Garry Tonon-Martin Nguyen tiff at ONE 165

Shamil Gasanov will have a close eye on the high-stakes clash between Garry Tonon and Martin Nguyen.

‘The Cobra’ is coming off an impressive return to the win column at ONE Fight Night 18 on Prime Video, scoring a well-deserved decision victory against South Korean standout Oh Ho Taek.

Back to his winning ways and determined to score his first ONE world title opportunity later this year, Gasanov will be watching how things play out in the loaded featherweight division over the next few months.

On January 28, Tonon, who submitted Shamil Gasanov in his last outing, will return for a meeting with former two-division titleholder Martin Nguyen in a potential title eliminator.

The victor likely moving on to face the winner of ONE 166’s featherweight title unification bout between champion Tang Kai and challenger Thanh Le.

With that, Gasanov plans on squaring off with whoever comes up short between Tonon and Nguyen, even if that means running it back with the only man to beat him in his mixed martial arts career:

“Actually, I don't care,” Gasanov said at the ONE Fight Night 18 post-fight press event when asked which fighter he would prefer to face. “As long as the guys are from the top of the ratings. Of course, it's going to depend on the next few several fights. So yeah, Garry and Martin are gonna fight, and I think I can fight the guy who loses. And even if I fight with Garry, it's going to be okay.”

If you missed any of the action or want to relive an epic night in ONE Championship history, the ONE Fight Night 18: Gasanov vs. Oh replay can be watched anytime on demand via Amazon Prime Video in North America.

See the full interview below:

---

Who moves on to fight Shamil Gasanov, and who moves on to fight for ONE gold?

Garry Tonon will look to earn his second opportunity at featherweight gold after coming up short against then-champion Thanh Le at ONE: Lights Out in March 2022.

Since then, ‘The Lion Killer’ has landed back-to-back submission victories against Johnny Nunez and the aforementioned Shamil Gasanov.

As for Martin Nguyen, the ONE legend has found it difficult to keep himself inside the winner’s column, dropping three of his last five. His losses have, however, come against some seriously tough competition in the form of Thanh Le, Kim Jae Woong, and Ilya Freymanov.

‘The Situ-Asian’ put on a solid performance against Leonardo Casotti in February, setting the stage for his return to the featherweight world title picture.