“You Don’t Count the Old Guy Out” – Martin Nguyen Raises His Hand to Face ‘Experienced’ Eddie Alvarez in Featherweight Division

There has been news circulating lately that multiple-time mixed martial arts World Champion Eddie “The Underground King” Alvarez is targeting a stint in the featherweight division.

Former ONE featherweight king Martin “The Situ-Asian” Nguyen heard the rumors and has made it clear that he’d like to be the first fighter to face the American veteran in the stacked weight class.

Nguyen has taken out a plethora of top names throughout his tenure at The Home Of Martial Arts, and he admits he would relish the opportunity to share the Circle with a legend of the sport.

“Man, I think it would be spectacular, with his experience, his caliber,” he said.

“I’d be more than honored to welcome him to the featherweight division. I’m sure if he gets past me, then he’ll obviously be a top-five, top-three contender for that title shot.”

The #3-ranked featherweight contender has endured a couple of defeats in his past five outings in ONE, but he bounced back with a highlight-reel knockout over Kirill Gorobets at ONE: LIGHTS OUT in March of this year.

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Alvarez, on the other hand, joined ONE intending to claim a World Title in a third major organization, but his plans have been derailed in the lightweight division.

Martin Nguyen believes Eddie Alvarez is still a threat

“The Underground King” suffered a shock knockout loss to rising contender Timofey Nastyukhin in his debut in the Circle. And though he scored a victory over former lightweight king Eduard “Landslide” Folayang in his return, he then suffered a controversial no-contest against Iuri Lapicus and a unanimous decision loss to current titleholder Ok Rae Yoon.

Despite those setbacks, “The Situ-Asian” still believes Alvarez has plenty of fire left in him, and he promises that a battle between them would be a guaranteed firefight.

“Eddie Alvarez is [one of] the most experienced athletes in ONE Championship at the moment. In terms of MMA, I still feel like he’s got a few more fights underneath his belt, at least a minimum of three or four fights,” Nguyen said.

“He doesn’t really have anything to prove. He’s achieved it all. So, you don’t count the old guy out until he’s completely out. I feel that I’m that person he should be fighting. I’m always ready to put my name and sign that contract. We’ll see what happens.”

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