Martin Nguyen is well aware of the stakes that will be at play at ONE 165 when he competes against Garry Tonon, who is now the top contender in the featherweight division.
This weekend in Japan, if the former world champion is successful in defeating Tonon, he will finally be able to put an end to his arduous journey back to title contention. Tonon has been the opponent of the former world champion.
Because of the world championship unification war that will take place at ONE 166, the path that leads to a shot at the featherweight world title is already nicely lined up for him now that he has reached that point.
Tang Kai and Thanh Le, the current champion and interim titleholder, will compete against each other in a rematch on March 1 in Qatar. The purpose of this fight is to determine who is the reigning champion of the featherweight class.
The victor of the match between Nguyen and Tonon will be in an ideal position to confront the victor of that match-up either over the summer or possibly later on in the year.
In a recent interview with ONE Championship, Martin Nguyen discussed various aspects of this trend, including the following:
In light of this, I believe that a victory for either of us will be sufficient to secure that championship shot whenever these two guys, Tang Kai and Thanh Le, have a fight to determine who is the current champion. Thanh Le and Tang Kai can be mentioned here. What do you call it, the unification of it? “I have the impression that they are prepared to face their next opponent.”
Martin Nguyen must get past Garry Tonon before he can think about titles
As the saying goes, “high risk comes with high reward,” and that is precisely what Martin Nguyen will experience when he competes against “The Lion Killer” at the Ariake Arena in Tokyo, an arena located in Japan.
A victory over Tonon has the potential to propel the third-ranked candidate to the top slot; yet, successfully removing “The Lion Killer” from the top of the division is a feat that is much simpler to say than it is to accomplish.
In the event that he is successful in getting his hand raised at ONE 165, there is the possibility of receiving enormous rewards; yet, accomplishing this task will not be an easy task.
If Nguyen were to triumph against Tonon, it would not only establish him as the next contender for the featherweight gold, but it would also be the most significant victory that Nguyen has achieved in recent years and a clear declaration of his intentions moving ahead.
