Shamil Gasanov on the importance of his ONE debut: “I wanted to test myself in one of the best leagues”

In his ONE Championship debut, Shamil Gasanov announced himself as one of the very top contenders in the lightweight division.

Stepping inside the Circle for the very first time with an undefeated 12-0 record, there was already high hopes for the Russian prospect going into his ONE debut.

Gasanov delivered massively on the hype in his first outing under the ONE banner, submitting Kim Jae Woong in the first round at ONE on Prime Video 3 in October last year.

With that, the 27-year-old immediately pushed himself to become a favorite to earn a shot at the world championship title, especially since it came against one of the top five lightweights in impressive fashion.

At ONE Fight Night 12 on July 14, he will look to secure one more statement victory against another elite athlete in the form of Garry Tonon.

With a win over the former world championship challenger, Shamil Gasanov will have a solid case for being the number one contender in the division. If victorious, he will be lined up for a shot, presumably after the inevitable rematch between Tang Kai and Thanh Le for the title.

In an interview with ONE Championship, the Russian spoke about his debut and the statement he intended to make:

“That victory was extremely important because I wanted to test myself in one of the best leagues in the world and see where I stand. It was even more significant to see how I performed against the number 2 ranked fighter in our division.”

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