Garry Tonon says tough submission win over Shamil Gasanov one of his most “special” victories

Garry Tonon has had many memorable wins in both Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ) and mixed martial arts, but the one he took against Shamil Gasanov might just be up there as one of his favorites.

The BJJ legend showed the world why he’s such a lethal grappler when he submitted Gasanov at ONE Fight Night 12 this past week at the iconic Lumpinee Boxing Stadium.

Tonon was on the backfoot at the start of the match with Gasanov taking early control with his striking and hard-nosed wrestling.

By the time the second round started, ‘The Lion Killer’ had figured out the Russian star and proceeded to use Gasanov’s strength to his advantage.

In his post-fight interview, Tonon said he was glad to overcome Gasanov’s early onslaught and come away with that painful knee bar finish in the second round.

“I'm very happy with myself. Because you know, man, fighting like, it's nice to just beat somebody up, you know, and then walk away victorious. Right, but, you know, there's something special about it you know, the real reason that you know, get involved in martial arts is like to be able to defend yourself, right?”

He added:

“So to be able to struggle through a difficult situation and then be able to come back to be able to build that sense to be able to have that faith in yourself that you're going to be able to overcome the obstacle even when things don't go great.”

Gasanov seemed to have control early in the second round when he got Tonon pinned in the corner, but the American star masterfully used Gasanov’s strength and rolled to isolate leg on the ground.

Slowly putting pressure on Gasanov’s left leg, Tonon turned to his back to lock in the knee bar and ultimately secured the submission.

Tonon, the No.2-ranked featherweight contender, earned his second straight win and his eighth overall in nine matches. Another win could land the 31-year-old another crack at the ONE featherweight world title.