Former double-champ Martin Nguyen eyeing Circle return in October

Martin Nguyen wants to take a bit of time off before embarking on his redemption arc in ONE Championship.

The former ONE featherweight and lightweight world champion plans to return to competition in October this year and re-establish himself as the promotion’s boogyman in the featherweight division.

In an interview with South China Morning Post, Nguyen said he and his family are going on a trip before he goes into a hard training camp in preparation for a possible match in October.

Nguyen said:

“I said because I’m not gonna fight until October. I said that’s the first available date after having a strong camp. October is the date that I want to fight, I’m predicting everything falls down into plan.”

‘The Situ-Asian’ is coming off a dominant unanimous decision win over Brazilian striker Leonardo Casotti at ONE Fight Night 7 this past February in Bangkok. Though Nguyen has made a name as an ultra-aggressive fighter, the pace at which he operated against Casotti was almost the complete opposite.

Nguyen was methodical in his approach and would only go into an offensive flurry when he had Casotti in a compromising spot.

The win maintained Nguyen’s No.4 spot in the featherweight rankings, while he tries to reclaim the promotion’s 155-pound crown.

Nguyen is one of the most influential fighters in ONE Championship history, being the promotion’s first dual world champion. The 34-year-old became the ONE featherweight world champion in August 2017 when he knocked out submission machine Marat Gafurov in the second round.

Nguyen then secured the ONE lightweight world title when he starched Filipino legend Eduard Folayang three months later in Manila.

Watch Nguyen's entire interview below: