Martin Nguyen working with new coach Bob Cook at Kill Cliff to level up his grappling game

'The Situ-Asian' Martin Nguyen will soon be facing off against the dangerous and undefeated Russian grappler 'The Cobra' Shamil Gasanov. Nguyen will be well prepared for this showdown between the highly ranked featherweights.

The 33-year-old former two-division world champion 'The Situ-Asian' flew across the globe from his home in Australia to Florida, USA to get in some work at the renowned Kill Cliff FC MMA gym. Discussing some of the grappling he did there, he spoke in an interview with SCMP MMA and said:

"Obviously, we’ve got a new coach. He’s well known around the circuit. Been working a lot with him closely. Just getting me ready for the moment. When my opponent grabs a hold of me, there’s no panic mode. There’s not anything there. It’s just nothing new to what’s happening in the gym."

Martin Nguyen even brought in some Dagestani wrestlers to the camp to help him improve his game. He continued:

"To get ready for an opponent like Shamil [Gasanov], we have some new Dagestani wrestlers and fighters. Just that type of pressure style of wrestling and grappling ... Just a lot of high level grapplers and strikers, and pressure-style wrestlers. Just getting me ready for [Gasanov]."

Martin Nguyen will face Russia's Shamil Gasanov at ONE Fight Night 7 on Prime Video. The event will go down on February 24th at the iconic Lumpinee Stadium. All the action will be broadcast live and for free on Prime Video for all Amazon subscribers across North America.

Catch the full interview below:

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Martin Nguyen on facing Garry Tonon

The featherweight division in ONE Championship is full of dangerous fighters. After his match against Russia's 'The Cobra' Shamil Gasanov, Nguyen has his eyes on famed grappler Garry 'The Lion Killer' Tonon.

'The Situ-Asian' discussed a potential matchup against Garry Tonon with SCMP MMA, saying:

“Obviously, we got that recent call-out from Garry Tonon as well. There’s a lot of potential fights to happen in this featherweight division. You just never know.”

Former world champion Nguyen has no easy matchups in this featherweight division as he works his way back to a world title shot. He must first defeat Shamil Gasanov and potentially Garry Tonon later this year. It is a tall order for the Vietnamese-Australian striker.