Garry Tonon lauds ‘special’ Shamil Gasanov for maintaining perfect record

‘The Lion Killer’ Garry Tonon believes his ONE Fight Night 12 opponent, Shamil Gasanov, is truly a special athlete in mixed martial arts.

On Friday night, ‘The Lion Killer’ will return to action inside Bangkok’s iconic Lumpinee Boxing Stadium for a showdown with undefeated Russian standout Shamil Gasanov. ‘The Cobra’ goes into his bout with Tonon carrying an impressive 13-0 record, including a first-round submission against top-five-ranked featherweight Kim Jae Woong in his promotional debut last year.

Speaking about his opponent in an interview with ONE Championship, Garry Tonon addressed suggestions that Gasanov’s undefeated record was manufactured, suggesting that any fighter who can reach double-digit wins without a loss is undeniably special:

“I don't care what somebody does, and you know, people could talk about padded records and all these sorts of things,” Tonon said. “There's no question once you get into double digits, undefeated, in fighting, it's a tough thing to do, man. This is a wild thing. A lot of crazy things can happen. I mean, to get the double digits undefeated, you got to be doing something special. So this guy is good. There's no question about that."

Their co-main event clash this Friday night will undoubtedly have some major ONE world title implications attached to it. With a victory, Garry Tonon believes he can secure another shot at 26 pounds of ONE Championship gold while Shamil Gasanov hopes to bag his own opportunity by scoring a win over the featherweight division’s No. 2 ranked contender.

Who do you think comes out on top between ‘The Cobra’ and ‘The Lion Killer’ inside the Mecca of Muay Thai?

Amazon Prime Video subscribers in North America can catch all the action at ONE Fight Night 12 live and for free in U.S. primetime on July 14.