“He won’t last there” - Ilya Freymanov warns Martin Nguyen not to bring fight to the ground

Ilya Freymanov may not be a name you are overly familiar with, but if things go the Russian knockout artist’s way at ONE on Prime Video 2, you won’t soon forget it. Freymanov, who has made his name on the Russian regional circuit, will step onto the biggest stage of his competitive career on September 30 against one of ONE Championship’s most accomplished athletes.

Welcoming Ilya Freymanov to the circle will be the promotion’s first-ever two-division world champion, Martin Nguyen. Going 4-4 in his last eight, Nguyen will be looking to build off his most recent appearance, a third-round knockout over Kirill Gorobets at ONE: Lights Out in March.

Discussing his opponent with ONE Championship, Freymanov believes he is ready to prove he belongs on the global stage whether they decide to throw hands or take things to the canvas:

“I am going to have the advantage in the stand-up. I think that Martin may not want to stand with me for a long time, and he’s going to try to bring me to the ground. But he won’t last there much longer either. In general, I’m ready for any kind of scenario, on the ground and in the stand-up.”

While Freymanov has shown proficiency on the ground, it’s his stand-up game that makes him especially dangerous. With a record of 10-1-0, the Russian kickboxer has an incredible eight wins by way of knockout. He’ll certainly be hoping to register knockout number nine when he faces ‘The Situ-Asian’ on U.S. primetime.

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Martin Nguyen is ready for anything against Ilya Freymanov

Currently ranked No.3 in ONE’s featherweight division, Martin Nguyen is looking to string together a few wins to earn a crack at the promotion’s new featherweight world champion, Tang Kai.

Ever since defeating Thanh Le at ONE 160 in August, Tang is looking for his first potential challenger. A big win for Ilya Freymanov or ‘The Situ-Asian’ could push one of them to the top of the list.

Discussing his upcoming contest against the ONE debutant, Martin Nguyen believes he is ready to get his second straight victory over the formidable Russian no matter where the fight takes him at ONE on Prime Video 2.

“Styles make fights, so we’ll see what happens. I’m going to come in there – I might bang, I might come in there with my wrestling. I don’t know.”