“It wasn’t necessarily on my bucket list” – Martin Nguyen says Garry Tonon clash ‘the right fight’ to get him back in the world title mix

Martin Nguyen always knew that the road from being a challenger to a champion is to eliminate every possible contender ahead of him.

The former two-division world champion already did that in the latter part of the 2010s, and he’s treading a similar path in the first part of the 2020s.

Nguyen, the third-ranked featherweight MMA contender, will go up against number 1 contender Garry Tonon in a crucial matchup at ONE 165: Superlek vs. Takeru on Sunday, January 28, at Ariake Arena in Tokyo.

In an interview with ONE Championship, the Vietnamese-Australian star said his fight against Tonon is the perfect opportunity to put him into contention for the ONE featherweight MMA world title.

Martin Nguyen said:

“It wasn't necessarily on my bucket list, it's just the right fight to get me back to title contention. And so that was the reason why Garry's name came up. Other than that, like, if he was ranked behind me, his name wouldn't come up at all.”

Nguyen, a former ONE featherweight and lightweight MMA world champion, is on a strong run of form with two wins in his past three fights.

The 34-year-old is coming off a dominant unanimous decision win over Leonardo Casotti at ONE Fight Night 7 and looks to keep his momentum when he takes on Tonon.

Tonon, meanwhile, is looking to capture his third straight MMA win and ninth overall in the promotion.

ONE 165 is available on pay-per-view at watch.onefc.com.

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Martin Nguyen proud to have faced off against ONE Championship’s best

For a time in his storied career, Martin Nguyen had an indelible argument for being the best fighter in ONE Championship.

‘The Situ-Asian’ may have had his fair share of setbacks, but his list of victories was against some of the best fighters who set foot inside the Circle.

The former double-champ owns highlight wins over former world champions Marat Gafurov, Narantungalag Jadambaa, and Filipino legend Eduard Folayang.

Nguyen is also the only fighter to beat ONE lightweight and welterweight MMA world champion Christian Lee, twice.

In an interview with the From the Stands podcast, Martin Nguyen said:

“You know, when I go in there, I have years and years of experience under my belt now. I've been fighting at the top for a long time. I've been thrown into the wolves in ONE Championship. I haven't fought anyone easy at all.”

He added:

“I've fought everyone that's been on winning streaks, had been undefeated, had been, you know, deemed the next big thing, and, you know, I prevailed at most and fell short at some.”