Martin Nguyen likes the high stakes of his matchup with Shamil Gasanov

Martin Nguyen believes his matchup with undefeated prospect Shamil Gasanov will be mutually beneficial.

Gasanov made his promotional debut at ONE on Prime Video 3 in October and practically walked through the No. 2 ranked featherweight contender, Kim Jae Woong. He submitted the South Korean in just over two minutes. ‘The Cobra’ will attempt to impress fans and the ONE Championship brass once again when he faces his toughest test yet in former two-division ONE world champion Martin Nguyen.

‘The Situ-Asian’ had dropped two of his last three bouts, including a first-round knockout against Kim Jae Woong, but believes a victory over Gasanov will get him right back into the ONE featherweight world title conversation. In an interview with ONE Championship, Nguyen said:

“I feel it's a great matchup. He's just beaten someone who has just beaten me. Kim Jae Woong. He finished him relatively easily. That's a good matchup for him to obviously get closer to that title shot and it's a good matchup for me to try to prove myself against a dangerous guy.”

Shamil Gasanov will walk into the bout with 13 straight victories. Of those 13 wins, ‘The Cobra’ has submitted nine of his opponents, with another two coming by way of knockout. No slouch when it comes to finishes himself, Martin Nguyen is one of the promotion’s most prolific finishers with a 91% finish rate across 10 total victories. Statistically speaking, there's a good chance this bout will end in a finish as well.

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Martin Nguyen’s friend Aung La N Sang still believes he can beat anyone inside the Circle

Much has been said about Martin Nguyen’s recent struggles inside the Circle as of late. Once riding high as the promotion’s first-ever two-division titleholder, Nguyen has hit the toughest stretch of his combat sports career. Close friend and training partner Aung La N Sang knows a thing or two about coming back from a string of losses.

‘The Burmese Python’ found himself in a similar position, dropping two out of three on top of losing not one, but two ONE world championships in the process. Since then, Aung La has secured back-to-back first-round knockouts against Yushin Okami and Gilberto Galvao. Discussing Nguyen’s recent woes, Aung La told The MMA Superfan:

"It’s up and downs, up and downs. When you get to the top it’s hard to stay at the top. Everybody’s coming after you."

Both of the Kill Cliff FC products are currently working their way back to the top. If Martin Nguyen can secure a big win over Shamil Gasanov at ONE Fight Night 7 on February 24, it’ll immediately catapult him into the ONE world title conversation and potentially ignite a comeback for the ages.

Fans in North America can catch ONE Fight Night 7 live and for free on Prime Video with an active Amazon subscription.