Martin Nguyen says 'turning up mentally' for Leonardo Casotti was key to his victory

Martin Nguyen experienced a roller-coaster of a fight week before ultimately facing a last-minute replacement in Leonardo Casotti at ONE Fight Night 7 on Prime Video.

The former two-division world champion went through quite an ordeal behind the scenes when his original opponent Shamil Gassanov withdrew from their featherweight bout due to an infection he sustained in training. Krgyzstani prospect Razhab Shaydullaev served as a replacement for Gassanov, but he too pulled out of the card.

Generally, unexpected opponent changes can affect the outcome of a fight, whether positively or negatively. In Martin Nguyen’s case, the most important thing for him to remember was to keep a strong mindset no matter who the opponent across from him was.

He said at the post-fight interview:

“In my head, I was just making sure that mentally, I turned up. I've said it all week. I just got to make sure I turn up and just keep reminding myself mentally that I have to turn up because when I turn up, man, everyone's in trouble.”

Martin Nguyen returned to his winning ways last Friday at the Lumpinee Boxing Stadium after defeating Brazilian featherweight Leonardo Casotti with a unanimous decision victory.

The Brazilian put up an extraordinary fight, throwing bombs in Nguyen’s way, but the latter was quick on his toes to get hit with anything of real substance.

‘The Situ-Asian,' however, made him pay and countered with some big right over-hands of his own to further debilitate his rival. Both men valiantly put everything they had on the line until the final bell.

Excited to get his hand raised after a tough eight-week training camp, Martin Nguyen hopes to keep the momentum going with another big win before eventually getting a shot at a world title.

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Martin Nguyen believes having Aung La N Sang on the US card is going to be huge for the Burmese fans

‘The Burmese Python’ Aung La N Sang will be stepping into action once more this year and Martin Nguyen is expected to have a front-row seat.

The Kill Cliff FC teammates have spent a lot of time together over the last few weeks as Nguyen trained for his bout at ONE Fight Night 7. They are bound to be in each other’s paths in the near future as Aung La prepares for a light heavyweight clash against China’s Fan Rong on May 5 at ONE Fight Night 10: Johnson vs. Moraes III in Colorado.

Just like Aung La was there for Nguyen, so will the latter be there for Aung La - as well as the thousands of Burmese-American fans expected to make their way inside the stadium.

Speaking to The MMA Superfan, the 33-year-old standout said:

“There’s a lot of Burmese people, they’re only there to support their own and that is Aung La. And if he’s not towards the last couple of fights, man, I don’t see a lot of people being in the stadium at all. Aung La is the man and to have him on the card is gonna be huge in Colorado.”

Watch Aung La N Sang on Friday, May 5, as he takes on Rong Fan at the 1stBank Center in Broomfield, Colorado, at ONE Fight Night 10 on Prime Video. The entire card is also available to all Prime Video subscribers in North America.