Shamil Gasanov says he’s been following ONE’s featherweight division since before he joined the promotion

A true student of the game, Russian mixed martial arts star Shamil Gasanov said that he has been following ONE Championship’s featherweight division even since before he joined the promotion.

He shared this in a recent interview with ONE for his upcoming fight at ONE Fight Night 12 on Prime Video on July 14 at the Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok.

The 27-year-old Dagestan fighter said:

“I have been closely following my division in ONE for a long time, even when I was competing in another league.”

Doing such, ‘The Cobra’ said, has allowed him to get to know the key players in the division and prepared him well once he made the jump.

Shamil Gasanov made his promotional debut in October last year, impressing with a first-round submission (rear-naked choke) of former No. 1-ranked title contender Kim Jae Woong.

He was scheduled to make his second appearance back in February against former two-division ONE world champion Martin ‘The Situ-Asian’ Nguyen, but had to withdraw days before the clash because of injury sustained during training.

Now healthy, Shamil Gasanov returns to action at ONE Fight Night 12, where he will take on one of the top fighters in the featherweight division in No. 2-ranked contender Garry Tonon of the United States.

In grappling wizard Tonon, ‘The Cobra’ knows he is up against a very dangerous opponent and that his ground game will be tested. The No. 5-ranked fighter, however, is confident that he can handle the challenge, having fought fighters with a similar skill set as that of ‘The Lion Killer'.

Garry Tonon last fought in January, defeating fellow American Johnny Nunez by submission by way of a kimura in the opening round.

ONE Fight Night 12 is available for free to Prime Video subscribers in North America.