“I think he's delusional” - Martin Nguyen responds to Eddie Alvarez’s ‘Smash him to pieces’ comment

Martin Nguyen and Eddie Alvarez are not each other’s biggest fans at the moment.

The former ONE two-division world champion did not appreciate Alvarez’s rather spicy comments about him and recently fired back with some venom of his own. The war of words between the two enigmatic fighters began when Martin Nguyen suggested that he would welcome a fight against the ‘The Underground King’ if he ever decided to drop down to featherweight.

Alvarez, however, shut the idea down during a ONE Championship and Amazon Prime Video press conference back in July, claiming that he would be unwilling to cut to 155-pounds.

The former UFC and Bellator champion has been fighting at his natural weight of 170 pounds since making the transition to ONE back in 2019. Despite having mixed results in his first four bouts at lightweight, the MMA legend said he has no intentions of shifting weight classes.

Alvarez, though, boastfully claimed that he would smash Nguyen into pieces if their paths ever crossed inside the ONE circle. This reached Martin Nguyen, who was obviously peeved by Alvarez’s callous response to his respectful call-out.

‘The Situ-Asian’ retorted in an exclusive interview with ONE:

“I'd let him think whatever he wants, man. He's accomplished a lot. He can do whatever -- he can say whatever he wants. I'm just going to keep it respectful, because we know mutual people and coaches and all that. If it ever happens, man, I'll prove otherwise. But other than that, man, I think he's delusional.”

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Martin Nguyen is used to fighting bigger opponents

Due to Eddie Alvarez’s reservations, it’s highly unlikely that Martin Nguyen will get his wish for a potential fight on his terms.

If ONE decides to go in this direction, the probable scenario is Nguyen moving back up to lightweight. We know the Vietnamese-Australian slugger doesn’t mind fighting bigger opponents.

Aside from being the long-time kingpin of the featherweight division, Nguyen became ONE’s first two-division champion when he took away Eduard Folayang’s lightweight world title back in 2017.

Despite the obvious size disparity between him and the former Filipino champion, the Sanford MMA representative outclassed him and even pulled off one of the nastiest knockouts in ONE Championship history.

Making this feat even more impressive was the fact that Nguyen won in enemy territory, as ONE: Legends of the World took place inside the Mall of Asia Arena in Manila, Philippines.

Relive Nguyen’s sensational finish below:

On paper, a Nguyen versus Alvarez match-up is a stylistic dream match for MMA fans. While both fighters possess incredible wrestling skills, they have similar sprawl-and-brawl styles and share a penchant for putting on exciting fights.

Of course, Nguyen and Alvarez are technical strikers who can end the fight any time they please with their one-punch knockout power.

Let’s hope the MMA gods rule in our favor and make this fight a reality.