Seven months ago, Martin Nguyen was just another name on the ONE Championship roster. Just another fighter trying to carve out a path in the leading Asian mixed martial arts promotion’s 155-pound division.
Last August, Nguyen had a chance to unseat ONE 155-pound champion Marat Gafurov. With four straight victories and already under weight, Nguyen was perhaps prematurely thinking about who he was going to call out next even before the title fight with Gafurov.
“I didn’t want to disrespect him, but Bibiano is a legend in this sport and he’s like one of the top fighters in MMA, in general,” Nguyen told MMA Fighting.