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It’s easy to write off Martin Nguyen at the moment as he has hit the roughest patch of his storied career. The former featherweight and lightweight world champion, after all, has gone 2-3 in his last five bouts, with all those losses coming by way of knockouts.
Given his struggles as of late, most people tend to forget that he was the promotion’s first-ever two-division world champion. Long before Aung La N Sang, Renier de Ridder, and Christian Lee lorded over two weight classes at the same time, it was ‘The Situ-Asian’ who paved the door.
The Vietnamese-Australian is also one of the best finishers in the promotion, with 10 of his 11 wins coming by knockout or submission.
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On February 24, Nguyen will look to build momentum by halting Shamil Gasanov’s hype train in a marquee featherweight matchup at ONE Fight Night 7: Lineker vs Andrade II on Prime Video.
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The entire card will stream live in US primetime and will free for all Prime Video subscribers in the United States and Canada.
Before Nguyen begins his path to redemption, let’s have a look at three of his biggest wins inside the ONE circle.
#3. Martin Nguyen upends Christian Lee (twice)
Even today, no one has entered ONE Championship with as much hype as Christian Lee. After all, ‘The Warrior’ has been practicing martial arts ever since he could walk.
The massive hype was justified, as Angela Lee's younger brother immaculately finished all five of his opponents in under a round.
Lee drew his biggest challenge yet in Martin Nguyen back in 2016 at ONE: Heroes of the World. Unfortunately for the young savant, Nguyen refused to be his stepping stone.
The Kill Cliff FC standout took advantage of Lee’s inexperience, as the youngster opted for a high stance with his chin dangling wide open. The heavy-handed striker did not need a second invitation and found a home for his patented overhand rights, dropping Lee twice in the opening frame.
Lee briefly tagged Nguyen with solid strikes of his own. The United MMA and Evolve MMA standout, though, got a bit too overzealous and received another brutal counter from ‘The Situ-Asian’.
Smelling blood in the waters, Nguyen clamped on a modified guillotine choke on his dazed opponent and choked him unconscious for the highlight reel-worthy submission win.
Relieve Martin Nguyen vs. Christian Lee I here:
A year later, Lee emerged as the number-one contender for Nguyen’s 155-pound world title at ONE: Unstoppable Dreams.
Lee put up a much better fight this time around and showcased his improved grappling to score some points early on. Nguyen turned up the heat in the championship rounds and took Lee into deep waters.
After 25 minutes of intense MMA action, Nguyen’s effective counterstriking and overall damage dealt earned him the split decision victory.
#2. Martin Nguyen gets his revenge on Marat Gafurov to become the featherweight world champion
In just his second fight in the promotion, Martin Nguyen had a chance to become the interim featherweight world champion against Marat Gafurov at ONE: Odyssey of Champions in 2015.
The callow fighter, however, made the crucial mistake of initiating a takedown against the sambo specialist and fell prey to a quick rear-naked choke.
Hellbent on avenging that loss, ‘The Situ-Asian’ got a second crack at the Russian at ONE: Quest for Greatness in 2017. Nguyen, who had won four straight fights since losing to Gafurov, proved he'd learned from his previous mistakes.
Early on, it appeared that ‘Cobra’ had his number once again, dropping Nguyen with a vicious right straight and almost locking in another rear-naked choke. The Vietnamese-Australian, however, clearly worked on his grappling defense and managed to escape the precarious position.
Nguyen was clearly winning the exchanges on the feet, but Gafurov finished the round strong with a successful takedown followed by some ground-and-pound. Gafurov kept that punishing pace in the second round and was again successful in taking the fight to the ground.
The resilient Nguyen got back up once more and saw Gafurov slowing down after those tiring grappling exchanges.
As the Russian tried to rush in, Nguyen timed him perfectly and unleashed a meteor overhand right hand that crushed his former tormentor. He landed three unanswered strikes to the head for good measure and put an end to Gafurov’s reign.
Re-watch Martin Nguyen’s career-defining win below:
#1. Martin Nguyen makes history by dismantling Eduard Folayang in his hometown
As amazing as that KO over Gafurov was, Martin Nguyen is still best remembered for his sensational outing against fellow ONE veteran Eduard Folayang.
Just a few months after dethroning the Russian, Nguyen had the opportunity of a lifetime to capture two golden belts by challenging the Filipino for his lightweight crown.
But to do so, he had to take it in front of a sell-out pro-Filipino crown inside the rocking Mall of Asia Arena in Manila, Philippines, back at ONE: Legends of the World.
Despite being visibly dwarfed by the hulking Team Lakay hero, Nguyen took the fight to Folayang and methodically used his counterstriking to disrupt his aggressive opponent.
‘The Landslide’ tenderized Nguyen’s lower body at first with his thunderous kicks, but the Kill Cliff FC star wisely covered the distance and landed a well-timed takedown.
He softened up the home crowd favorite with some rough ground-and-pound as time expired in the first. After getting a sense of Folayang’s rhythm, Martin once again patiently waited for his opening to land one of his massive haymakers.
The lightweight king started to get loose in the second, sending the entire arena in frenzy with his high-octane wushu attacks. At one point, ‘The Situ-Asian’ valiantly blocked one of Folayang’s signature roundhouse kicks, which often knocked out lesser fighters.
At the halfway mark of the second round, Folayang uncorked his whirling derby of spinning attacks. Nguyen, however, stood his ground and displayed impeccable timing with a well-placed atomic bomb of a right hand straight to Folayang’s jaw.
The Filipino instantly fell and was mercifully saved by the referee from further harm.
Relive how Martin Nguyen became a double champion, here:
