"I’m not in too much of a rush" - Martin Nguyen focuses on retooling before attempting ONE Championship comeback

At his peak, Martin Nguyen was one of ONE Championship's hottest attractions after becoming the promotion's first-ever two-division titleholder.

However, after dropping both the ONE lightweight and featherweight world championships, the Vietnamese-Australian star has gone back to the drawing board. He is in no rush to return to active competition just yet, according to an interview with ONE Championship:

"I’m not in too much of a rush to get back in [there] to prove myself. At the moment, I’m just trying to get better and learn new things so I can come back with a whole set of new tools and not just come back just for the sake of coming back."

The 32-year-old told ONE Championship that right now, he is content with his life outside the Circle. He will only return when the need arises, possibly around March, after his birthday:

"I’m not in any financial burden where I need to get back at this very moment. I just need to get better, rewrite my whole content of books in fighting styles in my head, and practice them, and keep practicing and fix the flaws. And then, when it’s time to fight, I’ll know when it’s time to fight, but I’m not looking anytime soon."

---

Martin Nguyen slides inton ONE Championship featherweight rankings after back-to-back losses

Back in 2017, Martin Nguyen peaked with six straight quick finishes. He capped off the run with two punch knockouts of Marat Gafurov and Eduard Folayang, to win the ONE Championship featherweight and lightweight titles respectively.

However, an untimely injury in 2018 caused Nguyen to vacate the lightweight belt. The misfortunes only continued from there as he dropped the featherweight strap to Thanh Le in October 2020.

His next loss to Kim Jae Woong in September 2021 marked the first time in his career that he fell in back-to-back fights.

Nguyen, now with a record of 13 wins and 5 losses, has since slipped from No.1 to No.3 in the ONE Championship featherweight rankings.