Why Martin Nguyen will never again move up a weight class despite having enough power

Former double world champion Martin Nguyen explained why he will never again move up a division despite having enough power.

The Vietnamese-Australian veteran is headed towards his 17th bout under the promotional banner this week to face ONE newcomer Leonardo Casotti in a featherweight clash at ONE Fight Night 7 on Prime Video.

Ahead of his bout, Nguyen took a question in the pre-event interviews concerning a possible move up to lightweight at this stage of his career, since his first attempt at 170lbs was so successful.

The featherweight striker crushed that idea by saying:

“Yeah, I pack the power, and the power compensates for that division, but I don't like giving my opponents size and strength advantage when it comes to walking around seven kilos heavier.”

‘The Situ-Asian’ made historic headlines in 2017 when he won both the featherweight and lightweight world titles by knockout in the same year, against Marat Gafurov at ONE: Quest for Greatness and Eduard Folayang at ONE: Legends of the World respectively.

Moving up a weight class didn’t seem to take a toll on Nguyen since he ended up fighting the same way as he did at the 155lbs limit. Unfortunately, his run as a double-world champion was cut short when Nguyen cited a long-term injury that prevented him from defending the lightweight world title. He later vacated the belt in 2018 and returned to his division soon afterwards.

Watch Martin Nguyen attempt another run at featherweight gold, starting with his next bout against MMA striker Leonardo Casotti at ONE Fight Night 7: Lineker vs. Andrade II. The event will be broadcast live and for free in North America via Amazon Prime on Friday, February 24.

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Martin Nguyen says he’ll do whatever it takes to get back into world title contention

‘The Situ-Asian’ Martin Nguyen has laid his chips on the table and is going all in for another chance at featherweight gold.

In dire need of a victory, especially after losing his last fight to Ilya Freymanov at ONE on Prime Video 2 last October, Martin Nguyen is hoping to overcome the challenges he’s faced in the last few years to get himself back into the world title picture.

But if he loses on Friday, he may be in danger of falling even further down the rankings and away from his goal of reclaiming a world title. So, going into his next bout, he feels he’s got nothing to lose but everything to gain.

In the same interview, the 33-year-old star said:

“It's always been all or nothing, no matter what. But in this case, it's a bit stricter, a bit more serious now. It's always been an all-or-nothing kind of thing now. I want to get myself back into title contention and do whatever it takes.”