All-time grappling great Garry Tonon admits that his upcoming opponent Shamil Gasanov is equal to him when it comes to grappling in MMA. These two are booked for ONE Fight Night 12 on Jul. 14 on Amazon Prime Video.
Garry Tonon vs Shamil Gasanov
The US-born Garry Tonon is a world-renowned grappler who has won multiple Brazilian jiu-jitsu championship titles throughout his legendary career. These include titles such as IBJJF Pan Championship No-Gi first place numerous times, ADCC World Championship third place, EBI WW Invitational first place numerous times, among many others. Tonon is considered one the foremost experts in BJJ, as well as one of the most entertaining competitors in its history.
In 2018, “The Lion Killer” Tonon began a career in MMA when he made his debut in ONE Championship. Overall, he has earned a record of 7-1 with his lone loss being a bid for the featherweight title in ONE. Most recently, the 31-year-old athlete is coming off a quick first-round submission win against Johnny Nuñez. Upcoming, he will face the dangerous Shamil Gasanov.
“The Cobra” Shamil Gasanov is a skilled grappler from Dagestan, Russia. The 27-year-old has a background in freestyle wrestling, in which he has earned national titles. He also has a black belt in BJJ. Since switching to MMA, the Russian athlete has gone unbeaten in thirteen consecutive bouts. A whopping 70-percent of his matches were won by way of submission.
Both Tonon and Gasanov are looking to take a step closer to the ONE featherweight MMA title currently held by Tang Kai. These two are booked to face off on ONE Fight Night 12.
Garry Tonon on Shamil Gasanov
Tonon may have world acclaim when it comes to BJJ, but in MMA he says it’s a whole new game. The US-born grappler even admits that he is quite impressed with Gasanov’s ability.
In an interview with Tim Wheaton of Combat Press, Garry Tonon explained:
“In mixed martial arts grappling, I do believe we are on equal footing more than we would be in a straight-up grappling match. And I think that’s an obvious thing to say. I think some fans who maybe don’t understand the sport fully may not understand that.”
“It’s not an easy thing, it’s not a flippant thing, to submit somebody under the context of ‘Hey we’re fighting and you can knee me in the face, punch me in the face, elbow me in the face.’ It’s hard, it’s not an easy thing.”
“It’ll be exciting to see how things match up in mixed martial arts.”
See the full interview below: