On January 13, ONE Championship, an internationally renowned sports IP, will host "ONE Summit Series 18". With Elias "The Sniper" Mahmoudi withdrawing from the Flyweight Kickboxing World Championship against Superlek "The Kick Machine" Kiatmoo9 due to injury, the main event was changed to Featherweight fourth-ranked Shamil "Cobra" Gasanov of Russia against South Korean sensation Oh Ho Taek.
In 2022, with an all-win 12-0 record, Gasanov arrived in ONE Championship and made a splash against South Korean star Kim Jae Woong. In the face of Gasanov's super-strong wrestling prowess, Kim Jae Woong was dragged to the canvas without being able to resist, and "Cobra" easily submitted Kim Jae Woong with a rear-naked choke in just 2:09 to put on a 13-fight winning streak and earn a US$50,000 performance bonus. With the victory, Gasanov moved into the top five in the featherweight rankings.
But at "ONE: Pinnacle Series 12" last July, Gasanov faced Tonon, who was ranked second at the time. Facing the IBJJF Jiu-Jitsu World Champion, Gasanov started the game with a wrestling to suppress Tonon and hit back-to-back ground-and-knee attacks. However, in the second round, Torne used his jiu-jitsu skills to counter his opponent with a knee armbar. Gasanov suffered his first career defeat. He was deeply remorseful for this dramatic defeat. "In my hometown, every kid I met came up to me and asked me when I was going to play Tonon again. I've got to play him one more time!" With the flames of revenge, Gasanov struggled to perfect his technique. "The last few months have been a challenging time for me as I've been recovering from my knee injury and trying to get back to training and looking forward to a new experience. ”
To fight Tonon again, Gasanov must first overcome his South Korean rival. Wu Haoze has a career record of 9 wins and 3 losses and 7 finishes. He also got off to a great start in ONE Championship in 2022, defeating Japan's Ryogo Takahashi in his promotional debut. But in last year's bout with Akbar Abdullaev, Wu was knocked out in front of his opponent's astonishing explosiveness and was knocked out by TKO in 44 seconds before he could show his skills. Wu Haoze is also eager to prove himself again. This time to challenge the top five masters, Wu Haoze showed his courage. "Although Gasanov is strong, I am more motivated to win against a strong opponent than a weaker one. ”
Wu knows that Gasanov has great wrestling skills, but he's not afraid to get to the ground. "In terms of striking, I believe my kicks and punches are farther away, and I have more weapons. My kicks, takedowns, and grapplings are dangerous. Even though I'm a well-rounded fighter, I wanted to see who was better at grappling in this matchup, and that's something that Gasanov prides himself on. He's a strong wrestler, but I don't think he's good enough to strike. He'll probably use his strong wrestling ability to control the bout from the start. I want to drag my opponent to the ground and see who can do better on the ground, and I'll stay the course. I'm going to be looking for finishes, but I'm also taking into account decision scoring because there are a lot of variables in mixed martial arts. ”
Gasanov is also ready for a ground fight: "I expect a tough fight because I like to fight ground fights and he's good at submissions. I'm sure our race will be the most exciting of the night. ”
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