“That was his goal, to win the world title” – Martin Nguyen suggests Garry Tonon has wanted a piece of him for a long time

Martin Nguyen has been a constant fixture in ONE Championship’s long history and has been one of its most recognizable names due to him always putting together a strong showing.

Since debuting in 2014, ‘The Situ-Asian’ has been in a handful of firefights that tested his resolve with his heart-stopping two-fight saga with then-yet-to-be two-division world champion Christian Lee being a fan-favorite.

Also on his resume includes the sensational one-punch knockout of Filipino MMA star Eduard Folayang to become the first-ever two-division ONE MMA world champion when he held both the ONE featherweight and lightweight MMA world titles, simultaneously.

Nguyen is once again set to fight inside the ONE ring on Sunday, January 28 at the Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Japan, as part of ONE 165 and believes that his opponent, grappling wizard Garry Tonon, had always wanted to fight him.

The Vietnamese-Australian revealed as much in an interview with ONE Championship:

“I think I was in his crosshairs ever since he signed to ONE Championship. You know, when he signed to ONE Championship, I was the champion at the time before I lost my title. He had won a few fights in the lightweight division and he said that he was coming down to the featherweight division and I was in his crosshairs because I was champion at the time and, you know, that was his goal, to win the world title.”

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Martin Nguyen’s first-ever unanimous decision win

Nguyen has built a resume of ending fights by either knockout, TKO, or submission, as 10 of his 12 wins never went beyond the distance.

However, the 34-year-old would get his first unanimous decision win against Leonardo Cassotti, whom he spent the entire fight with trading punches.

That might not be an option for Nguyen come ONE 165 as ‘The Lion Killer’ has a submission victory in five of his eight victories.

Check your local listings or the ONE Championship website on how to watch ONE 165 from your location.