ONE Fight Night 7 results and recap: Martin Nguyen vs. Leonardo Casotti

The Martin Nguyen of old made an appearance at ONE Fight Night 7: Lineker vs Andrade II on Friday, February 24.

‘The Situ-Asian’ outlasted Leonardo Casotti via unanimous decision in their three-round featherweight affair inside the iconic Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.

The fourth-ranked Martin Nguyen, who spent his entire training camp at Kill Cliff FC in Florida, USA, looked sharp early on, peppering the Brazilian with leg kicks.

Casotti was a game opponent and landed crisp kicks of his own.

Despite accepting the bout on just three days' notice, Casotti looked ready to capitalize on the biggest opportunity of his MMA career against a former two-division world champion.

He pushed the pace and tagged Nguyen with looping hooks. The Vietnamese-Australian, on the other hand, took a patient approach and was cutting angles for his signature counters.

Near the end of the round, Nguyen stuffed the Nova União Phuket representative’s takedown attempt and responded with a solid knee to the face on his way up.

The former lightweight and featherweight king picked up the volume in the ensuing round by mixing it up with strikes to Casotti’s head and body.

Martin Nguyen also got a sense of the Brazilian’s timing and was dodging his power shots with ease. He caught the late replacement fighter slipping and rocked him with an overhand right.

It was a close bout heading into the third and final canto.

Martin Nguyen’s world championship experience came to play with under two minutes left as he changed levels and completed a massive single-leg takedown.

Casotti tried to hang on for dear life with a deep half-guard, but ‘The Situ-Asian’ rained down elbows and punches to close the fight strong and get the unanimous decision victory.

The former ONE double world champion improved his overall record to 15-6, with 12 of those wins taking place in the circle.

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Martin Nguyen returns to the winner’s circle after vintage performance vs. Leonardo Casotti

During his storied career, Martin Nguyen has reached the highest of highs of the lowest of lows.

The Vietnamese-Australian has gone 2-3 in his last five bouts, with all those losses coming by way of crushing knockouts.

Despite his recent slump, the 33-year-old knows he has a lot left in the tank and can still hang with the best fighters in the 155-pound division.

He also had to adjust on the fly after his original opponent Shamil Gasanov and supposed replacement Razhab Shaydullaev bowed out at the last minute.

He certainly proved his detractors wrong with his ONE Fight Night 7 performance.