“Hell no” – Martin Nguyen says move to lightweight not on his mind at all

Despite previously holding the ONE lightweight MMA world championship, Martin Nguyen has no intention of testing his mettle in the weight class ever again.

This Sunday, January 28, the former two-division kingpin will return to the Circle, hoping to take one giant step closer to another crack at the featherweight crown.

Standing in his way at ONE 165 inside Tokyo’s Ariake Arena will be submission specialist and one-time title challenger Garry Tonon.

Appearing on the From The Stands podcast ahead of his return to The Land of the Rising Sun, Martin Nguyen was asked about a potential move to lightweight should the opportunity arise.

“Hell no,” Nguyen said without hesitation. “Those guys are huge, man. I don't know. You know, obviously, opportunities arise and you just take whatever's given you know if you don't look at these opportunities and it will just pass you by, and then, you know, you don't have a chance of making history.”

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Martin Nguyen faces a tough test against ‘The Lion Killer’

Marking his 11th year competing on the ONE Championship banner, Martin Nguyen will face inarguably one of the toughest tests of his career when he meets ‘The Lion Killer’ at ONE 165.

With over 70 career Brazilian jiu-jitsu victories to his credit, Tonon made the transition to MMA 2018 and immediately established himself as one of the featherweight division’s most formidable foes.

Tonon won six straight, five coming by way of finish, to earn his shot at then-champion Thanh Le in March 2022. ‘The Lion Killer’ came up short in his first title bid, but he has since bounced back with back-to-back submissions against Johnny Nunez and Shamil Gasanov.

With a big win over ‘The Situ-Asian,’ Tonon could very well punch his ticket to a second shot at ONE gold.

ONE 165 airs live on Sunday, January 28, via global pay-per-view at watch.onefc.com.