“I’ll be honored” - Martin Nguyen opens up on possibly being inducted into ONE Championship’s Hall of Fame

ONE Championship has welcomed several two-division world champions over the years, but it was Martin Nguyen who first proved that the astronomical feat was possible.

The former ONE featherweight and lightweight MMA world champion bid farewell at ONE 171: Qatar, announcing his retirement from the sport after a unanimous decision loss to Shamil Gasanov.

Nguyen, who's considered one of the most dominant champions in the promotion at the height of his career, will no doubt go down as one of the all-time greats in the home of martial arts.

In an interview with Nick Atkin of The Bangkok Post, Nguyen entertained the idea of being inducted to ONE's Hall of Fame. 'The Situ-Asian' humbly said:

"If that happens, then it happens. You never know. You might still see me around in the ONE Championship scene, but if it happens, man, I’ll be honored."

Martin Nguyen is indeed deserving of such a prestigious commendation since he never backed down from any challenge.

The Vietnamese-Australian slugger always fought the best and even went down to bantamweight at one point to vie for three-weight supremacy.

So far, Demetrious Johnson is the first inductee to ONE's Hall of Fame. Bibiano Fernandes, who also retired at ONE 171, is expected to join him at ONE 172: Takeru vs Rodtang on March 23 at Saitama Super Arena.

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Martin Nguyen believes he should have gotten his hand raised at ONE 171

Martin Nguyen thought he did a decent job dealing against Gasanov's feared Dagestani style wrestling pressure.

For one, the 35-year-old veteran felt he did more damage in the striking exchanges and remained active on his back. He said in the same interview:

In terms of damage, yeah. Shamil was bleeding. He caught me in that first round, which was, I felt I slipped more than anything. But didn’t even hurt me once and he just went back to holding me. I was hitting him, I was trying to be active without getting taken down."

The Vietnamese-Australian star continued:

"At the same time, I was trying to strike while he was pushing up against me. I’m not taking any credit away from Shamil. I felt like I won that fight, but it is what it is."

The full replay of ONE 171: Qatar is available via watch.onefc.com.