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Former double-world champion Aung La N Sang was instrumental in helping Martin Nguyen to prepare for his fight at ONE Fight Night 7.
After Nguyen had dedicated himself to his training camp in order to pick up a much-needed victory on February 24, he had several changes to his scheduled opponent throughout the fight week.
Nguyen, a former ONE featherweight and lightweight world champion, was originally set to face Shamil Gasanov but the Russian grappler withdrew due to health issues. Razhab Shaydullaev then stepped in, but the Kyrgyzstani fighter also pulled out of the Bangkok fight.
‘The Situ-Asian’ eventually met Brazil’s Leonardo Casotti at ONE Fight Night 7.
In a recent interview with the South China Morning Post, Aung La N Sang revealed the advice that he had for his friend and training partner ahead of his return inside the Circle.
The former ONE middleweight and light heavyweight world champion said:
“You know he was a little emotional and he was a little stressed but I told him, you know like, you trained, you had a great training camp, you trained for a guy that’s 13-0, a phenomenal grappler and you know a phenomenal fighter.
"Any other change I don’t think it’s gonna measure up to that opponent you were training for. So you shouldn’t, you’re gonna make the same amount of money you shouldn’t worry too much about it you know.”
“It’s out of your control, but it does work in your favor that’s what I told him you know. With that being said, it’s still a different fight so what he prepared for made him sharper at a lot of things but it’s not the fight he mentally prepared for and I had to really change it. I had to really like tell him, it’s gonna be whoever it is, the later two opponents are not gonna be as hard of a test in a lot of aspects as Shamil.”
Watch the full interview below:
Martin Nguyen believes Aung La N Sang’s fans in Colorado will fill the arena to the brim
Martin Nguyen and Aung La N Sang are two of ONE Championship’s most successful fighters. The two former double world champions have become great training partners and friends, helping each other stay motivated for each fight.
In the lead-up to ONE Fight Night 7, Aung La was crucial in keeping Nguyen focused on the task, which paid off with a decision win over late-notice opponent Leonardo Casotti.
For now, it is Martin Nguyen’s job to help his friend prepare for his next big fight and return the favor. At ONE Fight Night 10 on May 5, Aung La N Sang will face China’s Fan Rong on the promotion’s debut event in the United States.
With the card stacked with some of the promotion’s biggest names, Aung La N Sang is used to getting huge crowd reactions when he fights and Nguyen expects that to be no different at 1stBank Center in Broomfield, Colorado.
In his post-fight interview following ONE Fight Night 7, Nguyen said:
“You don't know how many fans are in Colorado and in the US just alone. There's a lot of Burmese people, and they're only there to support their own, and that's Aung La.”
“Aung La is the man, and to have him on the card it's going to be huge in Colorado.”
ONE Fight Night 10 will be available live and for free to all Prime Video subscribers in North America.
