When Martin Nguyen realized he didn’t want to fight in higher weight classes

Martin Nguyen may be best known as ONE Championship’s first-ever two-division world champion, but ‘The Situ-Asian’ is done fighting in a higher weight class.

After defeating Marat Gafurov to capture the ONE featherweight world championship, Nguyen stepped up to challenge then-reigning lightweight titleholder Eduard Folayang. Though he was successful in his second-straight world title bid, Nguyen knew his days of competing in a heavier weight class were over once he rewatched the bout on tape:

“Whenever I'm in there, it's always different. I always say this, but on TV, obviously, it's different. I always feel that everyone is somewhat the same size as me. For instance, when I fought Eduard and I faced off with him in the cage, I thought that this guy was the same size as me.”

Nguyen continued, saying:

“I mean, he's strong but I didn't feel that he was towering over me or anything like that. Then when I rewatched the tape, I was like, ‘s***, you're drunk or something, man!’ like, the guy was huge. Since then, I feel like yeah, I am probably a smaller featherweight.”

Sticking to the featherweight division, Martin Nguyen will return to the Circle on February 24 for a showdown with undefeated Russian prospect Shamil Gasanov. Fans in North America can watch the event live and for free on Amazon Prime Video.

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Martin Nguyen is ready to get back on track against a tough Russian opponent

Martin Nguyen has struggled to find a way into the win column in recent years. Dropping three out of his last four, ‘The Situ-Asian’ closed out 2022 with a first-round knockout loss against Russian prospect Ilya Freymanov. On February 24, he’ll attempt to get back to his winning ways, but he’ll have to go through yet another dangerous Russian standout.

Nguyen will meet Shamil Gasanov as part of the promotion’s stacked ONE Fight Night 7 on Prime Video card. Gasanov enters the bout with an undefeated record of 13-0 and a big first-round submission win over Kim Jae Woong in his promotional debut last October.

Even with Gasanov’s impressive record thus far, Nguyen cautions the Russian of underestimating one of the promotion’s most prolific finishers:

“I feel like he’s going to come out and underestimate me,” Nguyen told SCMP MMA. “Try to stalk me down and I do what I do best. I’ll counter his strikes and I’ll knock him out.”