WATCH: Former double-champ Martin Nguyen shows his insane power and speed in early rivalry against Christian Lee

The duology between Martin Nguyen, the first-ever two-division ONE MMA world champion, and currently reigning ONE lightweight and welterweight MMA world champion Christian Lee defined ONE Championship's featherweight MMA division in the late 2010s.

Nguyen and 'The Warrior' first matched up in August 2016 at ONE: Heroes Of The World, where 'The Situ-Asian' rebounded from Lee's early onslaught thanks to a momentum-shifting overhand left, leading to the first-round submission. This remains the only time Lee had ever been finished in his ONE tenure.

They would go their separate ways for the better part of the next two years, with the Vietnamese-Australian icon claiming the ONE featherweight and lightweight MMA world championships in August and November of 2017, respectively.

When Lee challenged Nguyen for featherweight MMA gold in May 2018, the latter's combination of speed and flawless striking ability, complemented by his strong grappling, led to him retaining the crown via split decision.

Rewatch both fights below, which ONE shared on YouTube:

However, fate would conspire against the currently fifth-ranked featherweight MMA contender as he was forced to vacate the lightweight MMA world championship due to injury in September 2018 and surrendered the featherweight MMA throne to Thanh Le via knockout in October 2020.

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Martin Nguyen set for main event-level matchup at ONE 171

After a surprising first-round submission defeat to Garry Tonon in January 2024, Martin Nguyen will look to return to his winning ways in a high-stakes featherweight MMA bout at ONE 171: Qatar on Thursday, Feb. 20.

Meeting the Hard Knocks 365 athlete inside the Lusail Sports Arena in Lusail, Qatar is fourth-ranked 155-pound MMA competitor Shamil Gasanov, who is coming off a superb unanimous decision victory over Halil Amir in December to extend his winning streak to three.

Tickets are available via Q-Tickets.