Anybody who might claim John Gianatasio isn’t ready for his Fury Challenger Series 8 opponent is sorely mistaken.
Leading up to the fight, the longtime MMA gym rat compared the Penn State National Champion to one of the godfathers of the sport and one of the most dominant wrestlers in the early era of MMA.
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“[Anthony Cassar] was a very athletic heavyweight,” Gianatasio explained on a recent interview with TJ De Santis. “A lot of the bigger heavyweights, you don’t expect them to shoot, per se, but he’s going to shoot. That’s not something you see out of a lot of heavyweights or 205ers for that matter, that they’re going to be constantly shooting and trying to take you down and wear you down. That’s something we haven’t seen in MMA at that weight since Randy [Couture].”
Aligning almost entirely with Gianatasio is Cassar’s best friend and teammate Bo Nickal, who not only saw what kind of athlete Cassar was on a daily basis in the wrestling room in college, but continues to be his number one training partner in their joint venture into MMA.
Nickal vouches for the explosivity of the budding prospect and explains that it isn’t just quickness you have to fear when fighting Cassar, as he’s an all-around issue for anybody out to make a name for themselves.
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“I don’t really know that there’s another guy that you can really compare that has the wrestling pedigree that Anthony does,” Nickal said. “He’s a heavyweight NCAA wrestling champion and one of the highest-level guys in the sport. It’s definitely a big problem for a lot of people. Anybody that he faces, it’s going to be a pretty difficult fight, no matter what.”
With Cassar’s drive to dominate both the light heavyweight and heavyweight divisions throughout his career, Nickal explains that with Cassar’s speed, skillset and frame, it might actually be easier than any other dual weight class fighter we’ve seen before.
“I don’t necessarily think there’s one or the other he’s best at,” Nickal explained. “I think that 205 makes sense for this point in our career where we’re developing and we’re getting better. We’re working on our skills, and then once we take care of business in each of our divisions, then we’ll both have a chance to move up. There’s no doubt in mind that Anthony will fare just as well at heavyweight as he would have at 205.”
The ground game speaks for itself. Even Couture didn’t have the wrestling accolades of Cassar, but Nickal expands further on what separates his teammate from the pack and makes it abundantly clear when he says he doesn’t strike “like a wrestler.”
“Whether he’s going to shoot a double leg and take you down, push you up against the fence, hold you on the ground or whether he’s going to land a strike, no matter what, you really do not want to be hit by this guy or be touched by this guy,” Nickal said. “Even when I’m sparring with him, when I hit him it kind of hurts me a little bit. I can’t imagine what it’s going to feel like when he’s out there with little gloves against these guys.”
The journey to dual weight class glory continues at Fury Challenger Series 8!
Catch the return of Anthony Cassar for FREE on the FIGHT PASS Facebook and YouTube channels Sunday, October 22 at Fury Challenger Series 8!
