Martin Nguyen says Aung La N Sang was instrumental in scouting Leonardo Casotti on short notice

Martin Nguyen knew practically nothing about his ONE FIght Night 7 opponent before stepping into the ring with him.

‘The Situ-Asian’ scored a much-needed win last weekend at Lumpinee Boxing Stadium against his very short-notice opponent Leonardo Casotti. Originally, Nguyen was scheduled to compete against undefeated Russian standout Shamil Gasanov. Unfortunately, Gananov was forced to withdraw from the event due to illness. He was then replaced with another undefeated fighter, Razhab Shaydullaev.

Just days out from the event, Shaydullaev was forced to withdraw, forcing the promotion to scramble for a replacement. In stepped Leonardo Casotti, a dangerous Brazilian striker on a nine-fight win streak. Of course, Nguyen knew none of that as he was in the middle of cutting weight for the matchup.

Following his unanimous decision win over Casotti, Martin Nguyen addressed the media in a post-fight interview. When asked if he knew anything about his opponent, given the short-notice nature of the matchup, ‘The Situ-Asian’ said:

“Zero. Nothing, nothing at all.”

Nguyen went on to reveal that his close friend and Kill Cliff FC teammate Aung La N Sang did some research on Casotti but withheld much of the information so as to not disrupt Nguyen’s weight cut.

“I know that he was on a nine-fight winning streak as Aung La, and Aung La was the one that went through his Tapology and went through his records, and he watched a couple of fights, and I was just, like, worried about cutting the last pound. And he was not telling me in the meantime.”

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Martin Nguyen played it safe against Leonardo Casotti at ONE Fight Night 7

With little knowledge about his opponent, Martin Nguyen went into his ONE Fight Night 7 matchup with the intention of playing things a little safe. In doing so, ‘The Situ-Asian’ delivered a masterful performance that ultimately led to his unanimous decision victory. Discussing the bout with the South China Morning Post, Nguyen said:

“He was kicking me back as well, so I didn’t wanna risk too much. I knew I was ahead on the rounds and I didn’t wanna fall in a stupid position and get kneed and [change] the tides of the fight. So I kind of waited for that perfect moment and I tried to finish it. But tough guy, man, tough guy.”

The victory got Martin Nguyen back into the win column. Now a winner in two of his last three, the former two-division ONE world champion has the opportunity to get back to his winning ways and climb back up the ladder to a potential ONE featherweight world title opportunity. For now, Nguyen is content to sit back, spend some time with his family, and enjoy his return to the winner’s circle.