UFC featherweight Joshua Culibao hails punching power of ONE Championship's Martin Nguyen

Joshua Culibao has hailed the power of teammate Martin Nguyen.

Nguyen, a former ONE Championship double champion, has been helping his fellow Sydneysider prepare for his featherweight clash with Seung Woo Choi at UFC 275 in Singapore. Culibao is coming off of a unanimous decision win against Shayilan Nuerdanbieke.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with Sportskeeda MMA, Culibao described what it's like to train with 'The Situ-Asian'.

"We have sparred. He does hit hard. He's very deceiving. A very deceiving guy. His timing is on point. It's not like he's even trying to hit you too hard, but he can crack. Naturally, he can just crack hard. So he's a guy that you've got to be careful with. Especially with MMA gloves on, he can crack for sure."

Martin Nguyen has showcased his incredible power throughout his ONE career. Only one of his eleven victories inside the circle has gone the distance and eight of them ended via KO/TKO.

Having spent time training at Sanford MMA in Florida for his last camp, Nguyen returned Down Under to prepare for his last fight. 'Kuya' believes it's a golden age for Anzac MMA and lauded the talent that he's had at his disposal.

"It's always good to have the high level sparring partners and training partners. It just goes to show that the Australia / New Zealand region we're slowly catching up. We're showing the world that we don't need to go to Thailand or Brazil or America to get this world class level of training."

Staying in Australia certainly seemed to do the trick for Nguyen last time out. Having suffered a two-fight skid for the first time in his career, the 33-year-old returned to winning ways in style with a brilliant knockout win over Ukrainian Kiril Gorobets in March.

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What's next for Martin Nguyen?

Having returned to form in his last outing, there are plenty of intriguing options open to the former champion. Currently sitting at No.3 in the division, he's behind only Tang Kai and Kim Jae Woon in the rankings, and is one spot above former title challenger Garry Tonon. With Kai in line for the next shot at Thanh Le, Nguyen might be enticed by a rematch with Kim, whom he lost to in September last year.

Alternatively, he might look to test his grappling against 'The Lion Killer'. In the wake of his win over Gorobets, Nguyen emphasised his love of jiu-jitsu and called out Christian Lee for a grappling match at ONE: X. The bout never transpired, but the intention hinted at how much faith he has in his abilities on the ground.

Given his history in the featherweight division - one more win and Martin Nguyen could be right back in title contention.