Australian ONE Championship stars react to Seven Network broadcast partnership

ONE Championship recently signed a key partnership with Australian broadcast giant Seven Network to provide unprecedented access to fight fans in “The Land Down Under.”

Unsurprisingly, mixed martial artists and Muay Thai stars from Australia welcomed the development. They see it, among other things, as complementing the growth of combat sports there.

Among those who came out to laud the partnership was former ONE two-division world champion Martin Nguyen:

“Finally cracking into ‘The Land Down Under.’ Now, we just need an event here,” said the Sydney-based Vietnamese-Australian fighter.

Martin Nguyen is one of the longest-tenured fighters under ONE Championship and has been insistent on a steady presence of the promotion in Australia, including the holding of regular live events.

Perth striker Danial Williams, for his part, expressed excitement over the immense offering that ONE Championship can provide to Australian fight fans.

'Mini T' said:

“This is huge. Australians can now easily access Muay Thai, kickboxing, submission grappling, and MMA fights at the highest level without breaking the bank. I know kids who wanted to watch my fights, but their parents wouldn’t get the PPV, and this will only inspire the next generation of Australian martial artists with it being brought to the mainstream.”

Williams will next see action at ONE Fight Night 8 on Prime Video on March 24 in Singapore.

Other Australian stars rallying behind the newly inked deal include Muay Thai legend John Wayne Parr, MMA veteran Reece McLaren, Muay Thai dynamo Diandra Martin, up-and-coming star Tyson Harrison, and Celeste Hansen.

Under the partnership between ONE Championship and Seven Network, all ONE events will air live and free on the 7plus streaming platform.

---

Martin Nguyen says ONE Championship’s featherweight division is ripe for the taking and anyone can get it

Former ONE Championship featherweight world champion Martin Nguyen wants to return to the top of the division and sees the field wide open.

During media day for his most recent fight, 'The Situ-Asian' shared his take on the landscape in his weight class, currently ruled by China’s Tang Kai.

Martin Nguyen said:

“Yeah, it's full of champions. That doesn't look good because who's his next contender? It was meant to be me if I had won my last bout. Obviously, I haven't now. I think Ilya Freymanov is calling out Thanh Le. Thanh wants a rematch. Garry wants a title shot against Tang Kai. Garry just won his last bout against a non-contender. So this division's all over the place when it comes to title challenges for the belt.”

Nguyen is currently the No. 4-ranked fighter in the division, behind ONE featherweight world champion Tang Kai, Vietnamese-American Thanh Le (No. 1), Garry Tonon of the United States (No. 2), and Russia’s Ilya Freymanov (No. 3). Shamil Gasanov of Russia completes the top five.

As veteran Nguyen forges ahead in the division, access to his fights in Australia is now enhanced by the recent agreement between ONE Championship and broadcasting giant Seven Network. The deal sees all ONE events aired live and for free on the 7plus streaming platform.

'The Situ-Asian' is among the longest tenured fighters under ONE Championship, beginning his journey in 2014. He once simultaneously held the promotion’s featherweight and lightweight world titles.