ONE Fight Night 43: “I couldn’t fully prepare for this fight”

Dagestani dynamo Shamil Gasanov was originally scheduled to challenge Tang Kai in April. The Russian, however, made sure he would arrive at the biggest fight of his life as the very best version of himself.

The 30-year-old fighter takes on ONE featherweight MMA world champion Tang Kai in the main event of ONE Fight Night 43 on Prime Video, broadcasting live in U.S. primetime from Bangkok’s legendary Lumpinee Stadium on Friday, May 15.

The matchup was originally penciled in for ONE Fight Night 42 in April. But the contest was pushed back to give ‘The Cobra’ the chance to fully observe Ramadan and enter the most important night of his career at full capacity.

Shamil Gasanov made the request himself. ONE Championship granted it. The result has been a fully sharpened, fully prepared challenger arriving at fight week without any compromise to his preparation or his faith.

In an exclusive pre-fight interview with ONE Championship, the Peresvet Fight Team and Tiger Muay Thai product explained the rationale behind the rescheduled date.

“This fight was originally planned for April, but I asked the promotion to give me more time to prepare since I was in Ramadan and couldn’t fully prepare for this fight. And they gave me more time, and I was able to prepare better for the fight,” Shamil Gasanov told the promotion.

Shamil Gasanov’s elite grappling could be the perfect kryptonite for Tang Kai’s striking

The stylistic divide between the two fighters could not be wider. Tang Kai has built his 19-3 resume with 15 knockouts on the back of devastating striking, and he is, without question, the most feared puncher in the featherweight MMA division.

Shamil Gasanov, though, is precisely the kind of opponent any pure striker dreads to share the Circle with.

The Russian’s wrestling base, sharpened over years in Dagestan and refined under the lights of ONE Championship, has dismantled elite striking specialists time and again — including Kim Jae Woong, Aaron Canarte, and former kingpin Martin Nguyen.

If ‘The Cobra’ can drag the ONE featherweight MMA world champion to the canvas, control top position, and chain his suffocating attacks together, Tang’s path to defending his crown becomes drastically more complicated.

North American fans with an active Amazon Prime Video subscription can catch the entire ONE Fight Night 43 card, live in U.S. primetime, for free on Friday, May 15.