"AUSTRALIA STAND THE EFF UP!" - Martin Nguyen supports combat compatriot Reece McLaren after ONE 158 win

ONE Championship's first two-division champion Martin Nguyen took to Twitter to celebrate Reece McLaren's win at ONE 158 on Friday. Following McLaren's epic come-from-behind victory over Xie Wei, Nguyen expressed excitement, saying:

"AUSTRALIA STAND THE EFF UP!!!!"

Stepping into the ONE circle on Friday, June 3, McLaren was intent on showing off his updated striking skills. The decision was almost disastrous as Wei landed a clean right that immediately dropped him. Luckily for the Australian-native, he quickly recovered and got a double leg takedown, ending the fight at 3:42 of the very first round with a rear-naked choke.

The entire world took notice of McLaren's impressive comeback, including fellow Australian 'The Situ-Asian' Martin Nguyen. With this win, McLaren now has a record of 3-1 in his last four bouts. The lone loss came against Yuya Wakamatsu at ONE on TNT 3 last year.

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Martin Nguyen and Reece McLaren have a history

Aside from representing their home country of Australia under the ONE Championship banner, Martin Nguyen and Reece McLaren have crossed paths a few time in their mixed martial arts journey.

In April 2016, McLaren nearly dethroned Bibiano Fernandes for the ONE bantamweight championship. In the co-main event of ONE: Age of Domination, Fernandes barely escaped with his title, winning the contest via split decision.

When it came time for Nguyen to have his shot at Fernandes' title, Nguyen and coach Fari Salievski brought in McLaren to spar with 'The Situ-Asian' in preparation for his title opportunity against Fernandes. During an interview covered by Conan Daily, Nguyen talked about bringing McLaren in to assist in training.

“We even had Reece down here for a sparring session, and he has given me some tips on how he thinks Bibiano competes. This was coach Fari Salievski’s idea. He was like, ‘Bibiano has faced Reece before, and we thought Reece won. So let’s get him down here and get his opinion."

While Nguyen had an impressive showing in his ONE title bout, he shared the same fate as McLaren, losing the bout via a closely contested split decision.