Martin Nguyen is in line for another title shot (Picture: ONE/Metro)

Conor McGregor may be considered one of the best MMA fighters in the world, but a fellow featherweight competing on the other side of the world Martin Nguyen is quickly seeing his star rise.

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Fighting in Asia’s biggest mixed martial arts promotion ONE Championship, Nguyen’s profile was sky rocketing before a title fight defeat derailed his stardom.

But the Australian has continued to quietly go about his business and is now on the verge of a second title shot.

And with so little known about the rising star, we profile the 27-year-old in this week’s Fighter In Focus.


Martin Nguyen Age: 27

Record: 8-1

Born: Australia

Height: 5′ 8”

Weight: featherweight

Nickname: The Situ-Asian

Gym: KMA Top Team

Background



Nguyen fights out of Liverpool, New South Wales in Australia where he trains at KMA Top Team gym under head coach Fari Salievski.

Nicknamed the ‘The Situ-Asian’, Nguyen has quickly built an impressive record of 8-1 since turning professional back in 2013 and is currently riding a four-fight win streak in ONE.

He began his early years fighting in the local Australian promotions Cage Conquest and BRACE.

Nguyen dominated BRACE and in November 2013 he defeated Luke Standing at BRACE 24 to become featherweight champion.

ONE Championship Career

Nguyen is currently on an excellent win streak in ONE (Picture: ONE)

Having built his name up quickly on the MMA scene in his own home country, one year after capturing the BRACE title, Nguyen was given the opportunity to step up to the big leagues.

He was offered a fight on ONE: Battle of Lions which took place in Singapore in November 2014.

That evening, the Australian fought Rocky Batolbatol and won via submission in the second round to mark his ONE debut with an impressive win.

Nguyen's last five fights WIN vs Kazunori Yokota – KO (Punch)

WIN vs Christian Lee – Submission (Guillotine Choke)

WIN vs Li Kai Wen – TKO (Punches)

WIN vs Edward Kelly – TKO (Stoppage)

LOSS vs Marat Gafurov – Submission (Rear-naked choke)

Despite having only one fight in the promotion at that point, Nguyen was asked to fill on late notice to face ONE featherweight champion Marat Gafurov on just two days notice.

Nguyen understandably wasn’t ready for such an opportunity and was quickly defeated in the first round after just 41 seconds by the Russian.

While some may have dwelled on the first loss of their career, Nguyen has since gone from strength-to-strength.

He has racked up wins against the likes of Edward Kelly, Kai Wan Li and Christian Lee since the loss.

His most impressive win so far

Two weeks ago, Nguyen scored the biggest win of his career when he took out the former title contender Kazunori Yokota a ONE: Quest for Power.

Nguyen controlled the contest from the outset and used his footwork to move in and out of range while beautifully counterstriking his Japanese opponent.

The finish came after just three minutes and thirty-six seconds of the first round when the Australian landed a huge right to send Yokota to the mat.

After a brief flurry of follow up strikes the referee call the bout to an end and Nguyen had his biggest win in ONE.

The future

The next challenger for the ONE featherweight title is yet to be decided, but Nguyen is said to be in consideration following his big win over Yokota.



The Russian, Marat Gafurov, is still the current champion so should Nguyen get the nod he will fighting not only for the title, but for revenge over the man that has handed him the only loss of his career so far.

Time will tell whether Nguyen is the next challenger, but the news is expected soon so be sure to keep an eye out.

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