"I’m one fight away" – Martin Nguyen wants to "earn" his shot at gold with a big win vs. Garry Tonon

Former ONE two-division king Martin Nguyen believes that time is on his side as he attempts to shoot his way to another run at a ONE world title.

That journey to a crack at gold could start should he see off top-ranked featherweight contender Garry Tonon at ONE Championship’s massive return to Japan for ONE 165 on January 28.

At 34 years of age, ‘The Situ-Asian’s' drive to be the best in his class is still at the top, despite having completely wiped out the who’s who of the featherweight division in the past.

And with a fight against the No.1 guy in the division next, the Sydney native believes his name will be in the world title mix once more with a big win in Tokyo.

Martin Nguyen told Sportskeeda MMA that he remains as motivated as ever to challenge for ONE gold, adding that he prefers to earn it rather than have it gifted to him due to his past accomplishments.

He said:

“I feel that I’m one fight away from earning my title shot. I don’t want to feel that it's given to me because I was the former champ.

"So I want to solidify myself as a challenger by earning it and taking out whoever is in front of me in the rankings. That next person is Garry Tonon.”

ONE 165 will air live on January 28 via global pay-per-view on watch.onefc.com.

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Martin Nguyen’s finest win in ONE Championship

Martin Nguyen’s trademark right hand has powered him to some of the best knockouts ever seen on the global stage of ONE Championship.

But none of that could top his finish of Marat Gafurov when they ran it back in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

The Australian-Vietnamese may have fallen short in his world title bid to Gafurov in 2015. However, he reversed his fortunes and dropped the Russian veteran with a thumping overhand right just over the minute-mark of the second round in their rematch in 2017.

As the featherweight MMA world champion, Martin Nguyen defended his gold on three occasions.