Tonon Wants Another ONE Featherweight Title Match, How He Submitted Gasanov

ONE Fight Night 12 provided fans inside the Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand and around the world with a fight card that saw finishes throughout the event and No. 2-ranked featherweight Garry Tonon could not help but gush over it.

Many fans viewed Tonon's then-upcoming fight against Shamil Gasanov at the event as a dangerous one for the grappling wizard since the Russian was coming off a submission victory of his own against South Korea's Kim Jae Woong in October 2022 at ONE Fight Night 3.

However, "The Lion Killer" was more than ready to live up to his name as he forced a tap out from "Cobra" in the middle of the second round with a kneebar that had Gasanov yelping in pain.

"He was dead to rights stuck, but it wasn't quite breaking yet. You know that everything was extended. And it's kind of kind of funny, we had a little moment I don't know if everybody caught it on camera, but I had everything fully extended and he decided to start defending by trying to elbow me in the hamstring," Tonon stated in the post-fight press conference.

"So, I tried to go figure four I went as far as I could go and... there's gonna be maximum breaking pressure. As soon as I did that, I could feel the knee go. And then he turned and screamed... You don't have to verbalize the word 'tap.' You can scream and a referee is supposed to stop it."

As Tonon pointed out, Gasanov's scream had referee Mohamad Sulaiman immediately close in on the two fighters and call for a break, with Tonon successfully closing out the comeback after eating heavy shots early in the bout.

Fans were convinced that whoever left the ring with their hand held high was going to be next in line for a featherweight title shot and Tonon made it known that he wants to fight for it once again.

"Of course, I want to fight for the championship... I want to fight all the toughest guys in the division. This division is getting tougher and tougher. Shamil was one of those guys. You know, it's a total wildcard," Tonon later declared.

"I always tell you guys; I want that Martin Nguyen fight at some point. But man, the order doesn't matter so much. Except for my paycheck. So, let's get another shot at that championship."

Tonon certainly made his case as a potential title challenger after providing a big victory against Gasanov, though how he fares against the newly-crowned featherweight king in the form of knockout artist Tang Kai is certainly worth keeping an eye on–should it take place.