“There’s a lot of eyes tuning in” – Martin Nguyen says ONE Championship has been growing at a rapid pace in Australia

Former two-division ONE world champion Martin Nguyen will have an entire country behind him when he makes his return to the Circle this Sunday.

‘The Situ-Asian’ will step inside Tokyo’s Ariake Arena for a potential featherweight title eliminator with the division’s top-ranked contender, Garry Tonon. ‘The Lion Killer’ has scored back-to-back submissions against Johnny Nunes and Shamil Gasanov in his last two outings. With a victory over Nguyen, Tonon could be in line for another crack at the promotion’s reigning featherweight king.

However, Martin Nguyen will go into ONE 165 with a strong Australian fan base behind him. Speaking to ONE Championship, ‘The Situ-Asian’ said:

“There's a lot of eyes tuning in and I get a lot of people messaging and a lot of people, you know, cheering me on and, you know, giving me good vibes just like your normal Aussie thing,” Nguyen said. “You know, go in there and do your best, then you know whatever will be will be as long as you go in there, give it your all. That's the Aussie thing, right?”

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Martin Nguyen hopes a win over Garry Tonon will earn him a shot at featherweight gold

With Garry Tonon sitting as the No. 1 ranked contender in the featherweight division, Martin Nguyen could earn his way to the top spot and move on to a title fight with the winner of ONE 166’s championship clash between reigning and defending titleholder Tang Kai and challenger Thanh Le.

If he had his choice, Nguyen would much rather face Le, giving him a chance to once again hoist featherweight gold over his head, and earn a little redemption in the process.

“Yeah, definitely I’d like Thanh Le to win,” Nguyen added. “I feel that if he wins and I win, we give the fans what they want and fight each other. I wish him all the best.”

Thanh Le defeated Martin Nguyen for the featherweight crown back in October 2020 at ONE: Inside The Matrix. ‘The Situ-Asian’ has been gunning for a rematch ever since. With a win over Garry Tonon this Sunday, perhaps he’ll get his wish.

ONE 165 airs live on Sunday, January 28, via global pay-per-view on watch.onefc.com.