Martin Nguyen eyes cross-promotion fight against a South Korean fighter

Martin Nguyen has faced many formidable opponents throughout his 18-fight career, which began in July 2012.

The former two-division world champion has taken out Brazilian jiu-jitsu wizards, wrestling specialists, and knockout artists. He even dropped down to bantamweight in an attempt to become the first MMA fighter to hold three belts across three divisions.

Put simply, he never turns down a good fight. At 32-years-old, Martin Nguyen still has plenty of time to recapture the featherweight world title, which he lost to Thanh Le in October 2020.

Aside from eyeing another reign as ONE Championship’s featherweight king, Martin Nguyen has revealed his interest in another match-up. In an exclusive interview with ONE Championship, Nguyen revealed he would love to face one of his all-time favorite fighters, UFC star 'The Korean Zombie' Chan Sung Jung:

“One of my all-time favorites that I'd go against would be ‘The Korean Zombie’. He’s one of my all-time favorite fighters - like overall - since the start of my whole MMA career, and if I had to choose then…man, why not go against one of the very best in the division and one of my favorites.”

Along with being a great way to showcase the ONE featherweight roster, a chance to take on ‘The Korean Zombie’ would be a dream come true for Nguyen.

The ONE featherweight division weight category is 10 pounds above the UFC’s. However, ‘The Korean Zombie’ should not have any issue fighting below the 155 pound featherweight limit in ONE, given that he started his career as a lightweight.

---

Can Martin Nguyen find a way to earn a shot at the ONE featherweight title?

After losing to Marat Gafurov in a featherweight world title matchup in September 2015, Martin Nguyen earned four first-round finishes in two years. This set him up nicely for a rematch against the Russian star.

Martin Nguyen knocked out the grappling expert in the second round to become the promotion’s fifth featherweight king. He successfully defended his strap against Christian Lee, Narantungalag Jadamba, and Koyomi Matsushima.

In October 2020, after 1169 days, his reign officially came to an end as he lost to American-Vietnamese star Thanh Le.

As far as featherweight kings are concerned, Martin Nguyen can lay claim to being one of the most dominant featherweight world champions of all time. After two successive losses, fans can expect the Sanford MMA star to hopefully return to his winning ways in 2022.