“Wasn’t going to happen” – Martin Nguyen believes Thanh Le tried to head-hunt too much against Tang Kai in first fight

At ONE 165, Martin Nguyen looks to take a huge step toward reclaiming the world champion status that was had.

He will face off against top contender Garry Tonon on January 28, while the ONE featherweight world championship is set to be contested on March 1.

At ONE 166, it will be the champion Tang Kai against interim titleholder Thanh Le in a rematch of their first meeting from 2022. The big emphasis in this fight will be on Le to make the right adjustments in order to reclaim his belt after he was largely shut down by the Chinese champion last time out.

This is also how Nguyen sees this fight playing out, with Le learning from the crucial mistakes he made last time around by hunting for the finish too much.

He told From The Stands that Le was chasing an outcome that he was unlikely of pulling off and that’s what cost him his title the first time around:

“[Thanh Le] wanted to try to knock something, try to force a knockout, which wasn't going to happen. You know, these Chinese guys got hard heads and good jaws. So Tang Kai came in and he done the right thing and made it a boring fight.”

Watch the full interview below:

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Both Martin Nguyen and Garry Tonon know what’s at stake at ONE 165

For both Martin Nguyen and Garry Tonon, the timing of their first meeting couldn’t be any more perfect.

A big win for either man at ONE 165 will surely guarantee them the next shot at the world champion, and they won’t have to wait long for the featherweight belts to be unified.

This increase in stakes and pressure won’t be anything new to Nguyen, who has already fought in some of the biggest matchups in the history of ONE Championship.

For him, January 28 is about winning by any means necessary to return to the top of the division as the number one contender.

ONE 165 airs live on Sunday, January 28, via global pay-per-view on watch.onefc.com.