“He made it look easy, in and out like a robbery” – Martin Nguyen dissects Thanh Le’s crushing win over Ilya Freymanov

With an eye on regaining his spot atop the featherweight mixed martial arts division, Australian-Vietnamese Martin Nguyen watched closely as Thanh Le and Ilya Freymanov competed for the interim gold in the main event of ONE Fight Night 15 earlier this month.

Due to an injury to reigning ONE featherweight MMA world champion Tang Kai, the division moved forward to determine a provisional king inside Bangkok’s iconic Lumpinee Boxing Stadium on October 6.

Things, however, turned out to be the total opposite of what many expected it to be – a tightly contested striking war between two certified knockout artists.

Instead, it took Thanh Le just 62 seconds of the match to force a tap from his Russian counterpart via heel hook, which earned him the interim strap and a ticket to fight Tang in a title unification contest.

Like most fans, Martin Nguyen shocked by the swift ending to the match. Speaking in an exclusive interview with Sportskeeda MMA, ‘The Situ-Asian’ said:

“I think that was a very unlucky fight for Ilya. No one wants a fight ending like that - super early too. It's definitely heartbreaking but also part of the game. Amazing work by the veteran Thanh Le. He made it look easy, in and out like a robbery.”

While Le waits for an opportunity to run it back with Tang for world championship status, Martin Nguyen isn’t too far off from entering the world title conversation.

A pair of victories since dropping his gold to Le has already positioned him on the right track, and he believes he needs one more victory to regain another five-round war against either man down the road.

If you missed any of the action or want to relive an epic night in ONE Championship history, the ONE Fight Night 15 replay can be watched anytime on demand via Amazon Prime Video in North America.