“We give the fans what they want” – Martin Nguyen hopes Thanh Le beats Tang Kai and battles him next

Former double ONE world champion Martin Nguyen seeks to have a rematch with fellow Vietnamese-blooded fighter Thanh Le. And he hopes they get to do it following their respective fights early this year.

‘The Situ-Asian’ will be the first to plunge into action, competing at ONE 165: Superlek vs. Takeru on Sunday, January 28, in Tokyo, Japan, against American Garry Tonon in a featherweight showdown.

American-Vietnamese fighter Thanh Le, the interim ONE featherweight MMA world champion, meanwhile, is slated to go to battle at ONE 166: Qatar on March 1 in a unification title bout against reigning divisional king Tang Kai of China.

Speaking to ONE Championship in an interview, Australian-Vietnamese Nguyen, 34, shared that he hopes to get another crack at Thanh Le, 38, and give fight fans a banger of a match.

The former featherweight and lightweight world champion said:

“Who I'd like to win? Yeah, definitely I’d like Thanh Le to win. I feel that if he wins and I win, we give the fans what they want and fight each other. I wish him all the best. I hope he unifies it, and I can move on from [that].”

Martin Nguyen lost the ONE featherweight world title to Thanh Le in October 2020 by way of knockout in the third round. It is something he wants to redeem himself from in a possible rematch.

But before any rematch could take place, Martin Nguyen must deal with Tonon first at ONE 165. In the ‘The Lion Killer,’ he is up against an opponent who is riding impressive back-to-back victories to become the top contender in the featherweight division.

ONE 165: Superlek vs. Takeru will air live on Sunday, January 28, via global pay-per-view on watch.onefc.com, while ONE 166: Qatar is also available live on PPV on March 1.

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Martin Nguyen touts showdown with Garry Tonon as instant classic

Considering a possible world title shot at stake, Martin Nguyen said his upcoming showdown with Garry Tonon will be action-packed and turn into an instant classic.

The two featherweight MMA contenders are pitted against each other at ONE 165: Superlek vs. Takeru on January 28 at the Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Japan.

Martin Nguyen said owing to their aggressive nature as fighters, his showdown with Tonon has the makings of a barnburner from end-to-end.

‘The Situ-Asian’ shared this in an interview with the South China Morning Post, saying:

“We both had our shots at the titles or own the titles and we want to get back up there and, you know, try to regain that title or get that title. So this fight with me and Garry, it's been a long time coming and it's definitely going to be a banger for sure.”

See the full interview below:

The winner between Tonon and Nguyen at ONE 165 could possibly up for a world title shot next.