“Just getting the title back” – Martin Nguyen says it’s his "sole focus" to regain featherweight crown

To former two-division ONE world champion Martin Nguyen, nothing keeps the fire in his heart burning more than the chance to regain one of the prestigious world titles he once owned.

The Australian-Vietnamese athlete, the first of many to achieve double-champ status in ONE Championship, returns to the global stage of the promotion with that very mindset at ONE 165 on January 28.

Before he throws it down alongside No.1-ranked Garry Tonon inside Tokyo’s Ariake Arena, Martin Nguyen spoke exclusively to Sportskeeda MMA about the biggest drive at this stage of his martial arts journey.

‘The Situ-Asian’ said:

“I’m at the stage in my career that I've proved myself as an athlete and a champion. My main goal that still keeps the fire burning inside of me right now is just getting the title back. That is my sole focus at the moment.”

After vacating the lightweight gold that he scooped with a knockout of Eduard Folayang at ONE: Legends of the World in November 2017, the Sydney native and then-featherweight kingpin moved to the bantamweight ranks in an attempt to gain another 26 pounds of gold.

Things didn’t quite work out well for Nguyen there, as he went down to Bibiano Fernandes and Kevin Belingon in a pair of world title bouts.

Martin Nguyen has since picked up a 4-3 run in the featherweight division, including an unsuccessful featherweight world title defense against Thanh Le.

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Tonon will be an interesting test for Martin Nguyen

Martin Nguyen’s explosive fight style has always made him one to watch. And with an 87 percent finishing rate coming versus world champions, up-and-coming prospects, and tricky tests, it's easy to understand why.

Whether or not he has his back up against the wall or otherwise, the 34-year-old always puts on a show. As such, it should be no different when he faces ‘The Lion Killer’ in a couple of weeks at ONE 165: Superlek vs. Takeru.

Tonon packs a heavy-grappling style, and he’d use every inch of an advantage he has to leave Nguyen in a couple of sticky situations on the canvas.

‘The Situ-Asian,’ however, has evolved into a far more well-rounded athlete from the knockout specialist he once was, and it’ll be interesting to see how his ground game acumen matches up to Tonon.