Garry Tonon is back on Friday, July 14, at ONE Fight Night 12. The American grappling ace will co-main event the card against Shamil Gasanov in a crucial featherweight contender’s showdown. And the grappler vs. grappler matchup has the BJJ legend beaming with confidence.
That confidence could have been shaken after his knockout loss to Thanh Le. But after returning in form against Johnny Nunez, Tonon is bolstered by self-belief he can overcome adversity. That experience has been pivotal for the 31-year-old.
“So to be able to have that adversity — and not just a loss, a very dramatic one, very similar to the dramatic way that I put away Nunez, a pretty quick knockout that I suffered. And then be able to come back and compete successfully; it does something for your confidence. There’s still something that’s always going to be a little shaken by the fact that you have that loss, but the experience that someone gains from going through something and eventually overcoming it, is super, super valuable,” Tonon told ONE Championship.
Gasanov is currently undefeated and has been calling out Tonon since arriving in ONE. The Dagestani wrestler uses his submission game to great effect and wants to showcase his abilities against Tonon on the global stage. Tonon loves the respect shown to him by the Russian and sees his opponent as more of a BJJ grappler than a typical wrestler from Dagestan.
“I actually think he’s a little different than some of the Dagestani Russian wrestling types because he tends to favor submitting people over beating them up on the ground, which tends to be more of what those guys do. They submit people, for sure, but it’s usually a byproduct of grinding somebody out and then submitting them. To me, this guy seems much more focused on submitting. So, I think it’s a cool stylistic matchup to fight somebody who’s another really tough grappler,” Tonon stated.
Gasanov has more amateur and professional bouts than Tonon has had to date. However, that does not mean “The Lion Killer” is the less experienced athlete. The American believes that his level of competition while competing on a global platform actually makes him the more seasoned athlete in the contest. But he is not discounting just how great the Russian has been.
“In some ways, I’m more experienced, and in some ways, he’s more experienced. I don’t care what somebody does, and you know, people could talk about padded records and all these sorts of things. There’s no question once you get into double digits, undefeated, in fighting, it’s a tough thing to do, man. This is a wild thing. A lot of crazy things can happen. I mean, to get the double digits undefeated, you got to be doing something special. So this guy is good. There’s no question about that,” the #2-ranked featherweight contender said.
Tonon is being bold with his prediction because it is a grappler’s matchup. “The Lion Killer” believes it will end with Gasanov tapping, perhaps by a guillotine choke. The confidence in his prediction is also allowing Tonon to look beyond his bout in Bangkok.
At the very top of Tonon’s list is Tang Kai and the ONE Featherweight World Championship. But the 31-year-old does not believe that alone will make him the best in the division. Tonon thinks anyone in the division needs to meet up against former two-division king Martin Nguyen to truly call themselves the best. And that is his plan after ONE Fight Night 12.
“For sure, I want to win the title, start making as much money doing this as I possibly can. And then, hey, that Martin fight is going to be close and coming behind. I mean, the dude fights constantly. He’s very successful. There’s no doubt that he’s going to be one of the next guys,” Tonon said.
ONE Fight Night 12 airs live on Prime Video at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT. The action emanates from Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand. The event will be free for all Amazon Prime members based in the U.S. and Canada.
