llya Freymanov flattens former featherweight world champion Martin Nguyen in ONE debut

Promotional newcomer Ilya Freymanov wanted to shake things up in the ONE featherweight division, and he did just that by taking out former world champion Martin Nguyen.

The hard-hitting Russian introduced himself to the ONE audience in the best way possible, finishing the ‘Situ-Asian’ convincingly in less than a round in their main card bout at ONE on Prime Video 2 on Friday, September 30.

Both fighters measured each other with leg kicks to begin the fight, but Freymanov landed the crisper shots.

To neutralize his opponent’s reach advantage, Nguyen wisely closed in the distance by forcing Freymanov back against the circle wall.

However, that plan didn’t work as the 26-year-old KO artist got right back within striking range and unloaded significant strikes on the Vietnamese-Australian’s face.

Midway through the round, Freymanov tagged Nguyen with a massive right head kick and even landed a knee as the former two-division world champion tried to dip down for the takedown.

Moments later, he clipped Nguyen with a picturesque right straight that dropped the No.3-ranked featherweight on his backside.

Like a shark who smelled blood in the water, Freymanov swarmed Nguyen who was in survival mode.

Freymanov put in the finishing touches by landing brutal knees, forcing a stop to the bout at the 3:33 mark of the first round.

The win improved Freymanov’s record to 11-1 and likely earned him a spot in the top five rankings in the featherweight division.

The Russian KO artist even took the second $50,000 bonus of the night for his beautiful handiwork.

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Martin Nguyen admits he didn’t watch film on Ilya Freymanov before ONE on Prime Video 2

Martin Nguyen didn’t do his homework on Ilya Freymanov, which ended up costing him big time. In the lead-up to their bout, the ‘Situ-Asian’ said he’s in the dark about the Russian’s capabilities.

He told ONE:

“I don’t know anything about him. He trains with a very good friend of mine Rafael Fiziev, a top-level kickboxer. And I assume – just going off the words of my coaches and a few videos that I’ve seen – that he’s a top-level kickboxer as well.”

By the looks of it, Nguyen knows Freymanov pretty well now.

The former two-division world champion was hoping to build momentum after his knockout win over Kirill Gorobets in his last outing.

Ilya Freymanov put a wrench in those plans and put himself in a position to make a run for Tang Kai’s newly won featherweight world title.