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Martin Nguyen feels he has nothing left to prove ahead of his highly anticipated return to the global stage of ONE Championship this Sunday.
The former two-division ONE world champion will look to climb back into the featherweight title picture when he meets multi-time Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champion Garry Tonon as part of the promotion’s return to Toyko, Japan.
‘The Situ-Asian’ has lost three of his last five fights, but with a win over the division’s top-ranked contender, Nguyen could punch his ticket to another shot at ONE Championship gold.
Already considered by many to be one of the greatest fights in ONE history, Nguyen goes into one of his toughest tests believing that he has absolutely nothing left to prove.
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“In ONE Championship, the featherweight division is the most dangerous, it is the most stacked, and the most talented division,” Nguyen said on the From The Stands podcast.
He added:
“Having myself in that mix, I feel honored but in a way I don't need to prove anything. I have full trust in my team to prepare me well against all these guys, who deem themselves the best in the world.”
Martin Nguyen’s credentials speak for themself
Debuting for the promotion in 2014, Martin Nguyen etched his name in the history books by being the first fighter to carry two world titles simultaneously, claiming the featherweight and lightweight championships in back-to-back bouts.
During his tenure, he has earned 12 victories, including eight knockouts and two submissions, to improve his overall finish rate to 87 percent.
Meanwhile, Nguyen’s opponent, Garry Tonon, is coming off back-to-back submissions over Johnny Nunez and Shamil Gasanov in 2023.
With one more big win, ‘The Lion Killer’ could find himself once against challenging for the featherweight championship in 2024, whoever comes out on top in the title unification bout between Tang Kai and Thanh Le at ONE 166: Qatar on March 1.
ONE 165 airs live on Sunday, January 28, via global pay-per-view at watch.onefc.com.
