Top-five featherweight contenders Martin Nguyen and Shamil Gasanov locked for battle at ONE 171: Qatar

Former two-division world champion Martin Nguyen is locked in for a featherweight MMA banger alongside Shamil Gasanov at ONE 171: Qatar on Feb. 20.

Their scheduled three-round tie will broadcast live from the state-of-the-art Lusail Sports Arena. ONE Championship confirmed the matchup on its official site yesterday.

Nguyen, who is the No.4-ranked contender in the division is out to iron things out after splitting between victories and defeats in his past four outings.

More recently, the former featherweight and lightweight MMA kingpin suffered a first-round submission loss to multi-time Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champion Garry Tonon at ONE 165 in Tokyo, Japan.

Though he finds himself on a rough patch as of late, 'The Situ-Asian' never fails to put on a show when he steps inside the Circle. With nine finishes from his 12 triumphs in the promotion, there's no surprise to what Martin Nguyen will have his eyes locked on come fight night.

'The Cobra' — No.3-ranked — is no pushover, though.

The Russian fighter, who fights out of Peresvet Fight Team and Tiger Muay Thai, has enjoyed a near-perfect run in ONE Championship, and he's out to build on that streak against Martin Nguyen.

Gasanov heads into this matchup with three back-to-back victories, the last coming in an impressive unanimous decision win over Turkish slugger Halil Amir at ONE Fight Night 26 earlier this month.

A triumph for either man in Qatar could potentially see them face the winner of the world title clash at ONE Fight Night 27 on Jan. 10, where divisional king Tang Kai meets fifth-ranked Akbar Abdullaev.

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Martin Nguyen-Shamil Gasanov joins an action-packed lineup in Qatar

Apart from this pivotal featherweight MMA showdown between Martin Nguyen and Shamil Gasnaov, four additional bouts are locked in for ONE Championship's return to Qatar on Feb. 20 next year.

In the headline attraction, ONE bantamweight kickboxing world champion Jonathan Haggerty defends his prized possession against Chinese striking megastar 'Demon Blade' Wei Rui.

Before that, the fight which has been hot on everyone's lips see Joshua Pacio and Jarred Brooks duke out for the third time to unify the ONE strawweight MMA world championship.

Turkish standout Dagi Arslanaliev and Croation superstar Roberto Soldic lock horns in a welterweight MMA tie. Meanwhile, Bibiano Fernandes and Kevin Belingon add another chapter to their long feud in a bantamweight MMA joust.

More bouts will be added soon. Stay tuned to Sportskeeda MMA and onefc.com for any fight announcements.