Martin Nguyen wants to get back in the World Title hunt in the ONE Championship, and he believes a win in his next fight will give him a clear path to challenge for the gold.

At ONE 165: Superlek vs. Takeru this Sunday, January 28, “The Situ-Asian” is set to face #1-ranked featherweight MMA contender Garry Tonon in a pivotal match inside the Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Japan.

Martin Nguyen talks about the matchup against Garry Tonon 

The pairing between the divisional stars has been building for months now, with Tonon previously calling out Nguyen on social media.

In an interview with ONE, the Vietnamese-Australian star said it’s no coincidence that “The Lion Killer” has set his sights on him. “I think I was in his crosshairs ever since he signed to ONE Championship. You know, when he signed to ONE Championship, I was the champion at the time before I lost my title,” he recalled.

“He had won a few fights in the lightweight division, and he said that he was coming down to the featherweight division, and I was in his crosshairs because I was champion at the time and, you know? That was his goal, to win the world title.”

A lot of things have happened to both protagonists in ONE Championship over the years. Since losing the featherweight MMA belt to Thanh Le at ONE: INSIDE THE MATRIX in October 2020, Nguyen has found it hard to string together wins consistently. But he has won enough to secure his #3 spot in the divisional rankings.

Meanwhile, Tonon amassed enough success in ONE Championship to challenge Le for the coveted strap at ONE: LIGHTS OUT in March 2022. The American wasn’t able to win the gold that time, but he has done well to bounce back, claiming back-to-back victories to secure the top contender’s spot.

The Former One double champ claims fighting Garry Tonon as inevitable

Nguyen explained that fighting “The Lion Killer” may have been inevitable because of their shared goal of claiming ONE gold, but he admits that it wasn’t a priority for him at any point.

“It wasn’t necessarily on my bucket list, it’s just the right fight to get me back to title contention. And so that was the reason why Garry’s name came up. Other than that, like, if he was ranked behind me, his name wouldn’t come up at all,” he said.

“But obviously he’s in front of me. Him and I are coming off winning streaks and he is the next step forward. Well, we both are the next step forward in terms of getting that title shot and so it’s just a fight that had to happen, you know, it’s been almost a year in the making.”

Would a win against Garry Tonon earn the former champ another chance to win ONE Championship gold? let us know what you think in the comments section below.

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ONE 165 airs live on Sunday, January 28, via global pay-per-view on watch.onefc.com.