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Former two-division ONE world champion Martin Nguyen is set to face former ONE featherweight MMA world title challenger and grappling wizard Garry Tonon at ONE 165 on Sunday, Jan. 28, 2024. Ahead of his bout with 'The Lion Killer,' he sat down with ONE Championship to talk about a variety of topics.
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In the interview, Martin Nguyen expressed his view on the upcoming ONE featherweight MMA world title unification match between divisional king Tang Kai and a former foe of Nguyen's, Thanh Le.
On the upcoming rematch between Tang and Le, which is set to go down at ONE 166 in Qatar, Nguyen said:
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“I feel if Tang Kai is smart, he'd fight the same way he did in the first fight. If he comes in with a vengeance to try and knock Thanh Le out, I've got a feeling that Thanh Le catches him in and takes the fight away.”
Back in 2020, Thanh Le took Martin Nguyen's 155-pound strap away at ONE: Inside the Matrix. He did so via a violent technical knockout. He then successfully defended it once against Nguyen's ONE 165 opponent, Garry Tonon, before losing the strap to Tang in 2022.
Nguyen sees his fellow Vietnamese-born fighter getting his hand raised. Perhaps if they both win their upcoming bouts, the two may end up facing each other in the future.
Martin Nguyen has a bold prediction on his upcoming bout with Garry Tonon at ONE 166
Just a few days away from his bout with Garry Tonon, Nguyen made a bold prediction as to what will happen when the Circle door closes around him and the American grappling specialist. He said:
“Martin Nguyen versus Garry Tonon? Garry gets slept within two rounds.”
Nguyen is coming off a unanimous decision win over Leonardo Casotti at ONE Fight Night 7 last year. The victory was made even more impressive by the fact that Nguyen had to go through a few last-minute opponent changes in the week leading up to the bout.
ONE 165: Superlek vs. Takeru will air live on Sunday, January 28, via global pay-per-view on watch.onefc.com. ONE 166: Qatar will air live on March 1 via global pay-per-view on watch.onefc.com.
