Martin Nguyen trained for last fight like his life depended on it

Through the recent ups and downs in his career, Martin Nguyen has gained a lot of experience and he took those lessons with him into his preparations for ONE Fight Night 7.

After being disappointed with his results in recent years, Nguyen made every sacrifice possible for his fight on February 24 with one goal in mind, getting himself back in the win column.

Confident that he gave every part of himself to his training, ‘The Situ-Asian’ got the win that he was looking for, which means he can now start to rebuild his momentum.

Defeating Leonardo Casotti via a unanimous decision, Martin Nguyen produced a calculated performance that demonstrated his single-mindedness in getting his hand raised no matter what.

In his post-fight interview, he reflected on his recent run of results and how that affected his preparations this time around:

“Putting in your bit of work and sacrifice and it just doesn't pay off in your favor, and your opponent did better. But I made sure I left no stones unturned in this camp, and we went into preparing to die.”

Fight week for ONE Fight Night 7 wasn’t without its own ups and downs for Martin Nguyen as he had multiple replacement opponents step in to face him. Leonardo Casotti gave a good account of himself but Nguyen's overall skills and experience gave him a clear edge in the fight.

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Martin Nguyen would love to fight Garry Tonon next: “Let’s do it man”

Martin Nguyen went into his bout on February 24 only wanting to focus on that particular contest as he takes his fights one at a time.

Securing a unanimous decision win against Leonardo Casotti at ONE Fight Night 7, Nguyen can now start to look ahead to his next appearance inside the circle.

The former double champion was originally scheduled to face fellow top-five featherweight contender Shamil Gasanov in a contest with huge stakes for the division. The fight fell apart due to an injury to the undefeated Russian and the replacement opponent also couldn't make it to fight night. Nguyen eventually ended up facing Casotti but is now looking to face a highly ranked contender.

As one of the few top featherweights in the division that Martin Nguyen is yet to face, Brazilian jiu-jitsu specialist Garry Tonon is the name on his mind.

In an interview with the South China Morning Post on YouTube, Nguyen spoke about a potential matchup with ‘The Lion Killer’.

He said:

“I would love that, definitely love that. I know Garry loves that. So yeah let’s do it man, let’s do it and we’ll see what happens. Fighters fight man, it’s just it doesn’t matter who the opponent is yeah.”

Watch the full interview below: