Martin Nguyen explains why he abandoned his jabs against Leonardo Casotti

'The Situ-Asian' Martin Nguyen is an MMA veteran who has a good eye for spotting openings. But in his last bout at ONE Fight Night 7 on Prime Video, the Vietnamese-Australian striker left behind some of his tools.

The former two-division world champion's signature jab was abandoned during this showdown. According to Nguyen, it was due to a reach advantage in favor of his opponent.

In his post-fight interview, 'The Situ-Asian' explained the situation:

"I've been working the [jab] the whole fight camp, but it was just a matter of he had a longer reach. I mean, at one point, when I went to jab him, he went to jab me. I was just working more on the offense."

Brazil's Leonardo Casotti was skilled at countering the jab. Despite the setback, Nguyen was able to adjust and still earn a victory. The 34-year-old fighter continued:

"I tried to jab as much as possible, but he was in that point where he lifted up his hand and then touched me first. I was like, I can't get in his little safe space."

'The Situ-Asian' Martin Nguyen got back in the win column with an impressive performance against Leonardo Casotti at ONE Fight Night 7. Nguyen is still aiming to recapture the world title, but he's not in a rush.

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Martin Nguyen requires a small break

For his bout at ONE Fight Night 7, Nguyen left his family behind in Australia for several months so that he could train in Florida at the Kill Cliff FC gym. That commitment took a toll on him.

Now that the fight is wrapped up and victory is secured, 'The Situ-Asian' wants to take a short break before his next bout in the ONE circle. In an interview with the South China Morning Post, he said:

"Call my shot, I just wanna have a break man. A mental break with my family then when I come back, anyone can get it."

While it was hard to leave his family behind, the 34-year-old athlete found training at Kill Cliff FC to be a massive benefit to his pre-fight preparation. He added:

“Yeah, the beauty of it is I get no distractions over here. I can just focus on training. Eat, sleep, and train, eat, sleep, and train."

Catch the full interview with Martin Nguyen below: