Shamil Gasanov shares adverse training conditions as an MMA fighter in Dagestan

Shamil Gasanov had to endure some extreme circumstances in order to be able to train in his native Dagestan.

Gasanov sent shockwaves through ONE Championship’s featherweight division after delivering a first-round submission of Kim Jae Woong in his promotional debut at ONE on Prime Video 3 in October.

Having already made his mark as the No. 5-ranked contender in the division, ‘The Cobra’ will attempt to score the biggest win of his career when he meets former two-division ONE world champion Martin Nguyen at ONE Fight Night 7.

Ahead of their February 24 showdown, Gasanov spoke with ONE Championship about the unenviable conditions he dealt with while training in his homeland:

“We had to sleep in the gym – there was a separate room set up for that over there. There were no windows and no heating in the gym. Sometimes when we trained in winter, there was so much fog in the room from our breath. Sometimes, it was minus-5 degrees Celsius [23 degrees Fahrenheit] in the gym in winter.”

For what it’s worth, the training conditions have helped Gasanov become one of the biggest Russian prospects in all of mixed martial arts. Going into his bout with Nguyen, ‘The Cobra’ is an impressive 13-0, with most of those victories coming by way of submission.

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Shamil Gasanov says his ONE Championship debut felt no different than a sparring session

When Shamil Gasanov stepped into the circle for the very first time, nobody knew what to expect. Given it was the biggest fight of the undefeated Russian’s career thus far, it would be understandable for the fighter to display some jitters in the circle.

However, that was far from the case as Gasanov looked cool, calm, and collected the entire time.

In an interview with the promotion, ‘The Cobra’ revealed that he felt no sense of nervousness whatsoever and likened it to just another sparring session in the gym:

“It was my first time competing in such a big arena. But there were no nerves at all, I was calm. I went into the fight as if it was a regular sparring session.”

It will be interesting to see if Shamil Gasanov maintains that same demeanor when meets one of the most prolific finishers in ONE Championship history, Martin Nguyen, in his sophomore appearance at ONE Fight Night 7.

The event will be broadcast live and for free in U.S. primetime on February 24 to Amazon subscribers in North America via Prime Video.