'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,/9j/4AAQSkZJRgABAQAAAQABAAD/2wCEAAMDAwMDAwQEBAQFBQUFBQcHBgYHBwsICQgJCAsRCwwLCwwLEQ8SDw4PEg8bFRMTFRsfGhkaHyYiIiYwLTA+PlQBAwMDAwMDBAQEBAUFBQUFBwcGBgcHCwgJCAkICxELDAsLDAsRDxIPDg8SDxsVExMVGx8aGRofJiIiJjAtMD4+VP/AABEIAAYACgMBIgACEQEDEQH/xABgAAEBAQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABQcQAAICAQQDAAAAAAAAAAAAAAECAAQFAwcSIQYREwEBAQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAgQRAQACAwADAAAAAAAAAAAAAAECEQAEIRIxsv/aAAwDAQACEQMRAD8Aw9ttKvittddK9D6420MdY4qzoz2G7dAwBPrl0TJr7B3Xdm08nXCMxKhg5IBiIdcuUr71+nKN1uMGgvxeAe4jn//Z'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Long-time ONE veteran Martin Nguyen had himself quite a night at ONE Fight Night 7 on Prime Video, picking up a much-needed win. He shared some snapshots of his recent fight via Instagram.
'The Situ-Asian' scored a unanimous decision victory over promotional newcomer Leonardo Casotti. It was a result that Nguyen needed to get back into the featherweight world title conversation.
The former two-division champ had lost three of his last four bouts entering ONE Fight Night 7, but he proved to still possess the hunger necessary to compete with the younger crop of fighters.
Martin Nguyen posted some action shots from his recent outing on Instagram:
Trending
Get the latest updates on One Championship Rankings at Sportskeeda and more
Martin Nguyen responds to those who called him old, says featherweight is ripe for the taking
Soon to be 34 years old, many counted Nguyen out, claiming he's too old to still compete with the up-and-comers. He put that narrative to rest with his win over Casotti, before responding to those who counted him out. He told SCMP MMA.
“Yeah, look to be honest man you can call me old, you can say that I’m done but if you got that in your mind I say not only are you naïve I’mma step it up and put you in your place. So, at the end of the day that was pure experience, and I just had to do what I had to do to get the win.”
As far as the featherweight title picture is concerned, Nguyen believes the division is wide open. He told ONE Championship:
“Yeah, it's full of champions. That doesn't look good because who's his next contender? It was meant to be me if I had won my last bout. Obviously, I haven't now. I think Ilya Freymanov is calling out Thanh Le. Thanh wants a rematch. Garry wants a title shot against Tang Kai. Garry just won his last bout against a non-contender. So this division's all over the place when it comes to title ges for the belt.”
The featherweight division is currently ruled by Tang Kai, who became a world champion by defeating Thanh Le. Other contenders in the division include Ilya Freymanov, Garry Tonon, and Shamil Gasanov.
Make sure to check back with Sportskeeda MMA for an announcement regarding Martin Nguyen's next fight, as he hopes to climb back up the featherweight rankings.
Watch Martin Nguyen's interview with the South China Morning Post below:
