Former double champ Martin Nguyen says he "had the best time" fighting in ONE Championship: "It's a dream come true"

Australian-Vietnamese standout Martin Nguyen has no regrets for calling ONE Championship his home for the past decade.

'The Situ-Asian' achieved the highest of highs in a decorated career on the global stage that saw him become the first two-division world champion across all disciplines in the promotion's history.

The Sydney-based fighter, who attained the organization's lightweight and featherweight MMA crowns, even dared to dream in search of gaining recognition as the sport's first three-division champ.

He briefly moved up to the bantamweight bracket for a couple of five-round scraps in the 145-pound limit division against Bibiano Fernandes and Kevin Belingon.

While he fell short in both contests on the judges' scorecards, 'The Situ-Asian's' courageous display won the hearts of many.

Nevermind his rocket of a right hand, which left some of the promotion's best fighters staring at the ceiling throughout the most iconic fight venues around Asia. Or that flying knee KO of Mongolian veteran Jadamba Narantungalag – pure brilliance.

Unfortunately, things haven't quite gone his way over the past few years.

After succumbing to his fifth loss from his last seven outings against Shamil Gasanov at ONE 171: Qatar, Martin Nguyen, 35, decided enough was enough.

'The Situ-Asian' laid his gloves down inside the Circle at the Lusail Sports Arena last Thursday, Feb. 20.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with the Bangkok Post shortly after, Martin Nguyen refused to single out what made his ride with the organization truly spectacular.

Instead, the Australian-Vietnamese fighter declared that he couldn't have wished for a better place to ply his trade and close out a significant chapter of his life:

"All of them. I've had the best time in ONE Championship, and meeting all the staff, and seeing it grow from a small company to the largest in the world. And being able to ride that wave with the company, man, it's a dream come true."

Watch the full interview here:

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Martin Nguyen says he has "nothing left to prove" in MMA

In the same post-fight interview with the Bangkok Post, Nguyen doubled down on his decision to put a full stop to his fight career.

The 35-year-old added:

"For me, I have nothing left to prove in this division. Even though I still have a lot left in the gas tank and a lot left to fight, there's no direction there other than winning this fight in general."

ONE 171: Qatar is available via replay at watch.onefc.com.