Martin Nguyen Reveals Key Behind Return To Knockout Form
In his last bout, Martin “The Situ-Asian” Nguyen was back to his best, and the ONE Featherweight World Champion expects to continue that form this Friday, 2 August.
At ONE: DAWN OF HEROES, the 30-year-old will defend his belt for the third time against his toughest challenger yet, Koyomi “Moushigo” Matsushima in Manila, Philippines.
It will be the Vietnamese-Australian’s third consecutive bout at the Mall Of Asia Arena, and the last time he was there, he put on one the performance of his career to knock out Narantungalag “Tungaa” Jadambaa in the second round.
However, last July, things did not go his way, but as he explained to ONE Championship commentator Michael “The Voice” Schiavello in an exclusive interview, the lessons he learned set him up for his recent success.
Don't miss Martin "The Situ-Asian" Nguyen's ONE Featherweight World Title defense this Friday against young and hungry Japanese warrior Koyomi Matsushima — it's going to be ⚡ ELECTRIC ⚡🗓: Manila | 2 August | 5PM | ONE: DAWN OF HEROES🎟: Get your tickets at 👉 http://bit.ly/oneheroes19📺: Check local listings for global TV broadcast📱: Watch on the ONE Super App 👉 http://bit.ly/ONESuperApp 👨💻: Prelims LIVE on Facebook | Prelims + 2 Main-Card bouts LIVE on Twitter
Posted by ONE Championship on Tuesday, July 30, 2019
“I kind of learned a major thing about myself against my last bantamweight opponent, which was Kevin Belingon,” Nguyen explained.
“We came in with a huge game plan, which put huge pressure on my back. We had to take him down, we didn’t want to strike with him. Hats off to Belingon – he figured out the game plan, and he took advantage of it.
“I started panicking, and at that level as a martial artist, I did not want to be panicking.
“All my bouts before that, I went in without a game plan, and just that bout, we went in with a game plan, and it was the biggest difference in my performance.”
The solution was to go back to his old approach and come in without a strategy.
That might seem counterintuitive for more cerebral competitors, but for an instinctive athlete like “The Situ-Asian,” it is the perfect approach. It worked against Jadambaa, and he expects it to bring another KO against his upcoming opponent from Japan.
🚨 LIVE FROM MANILA 🚨Martin "The Situ-Asian" Nguyen previews his massive ONE Featherweight World Title defense against Koyomi Matsushima this Friday!
Posted by ONE Championship on Wednesday, July 31, 2019
“The last bout against Jadambaa, there was no game plan, and for this bout against Matsushima, there is no game plan,“ Nguyen added.
“It’s just going in there, being the best person I can be, utilizing everything I’ve learned in the past eight weeks – everything I’ve sharpened up – and whatever it takes to get my hand raised.”
Check out the full interview in the video above, during which “The Situ-Asian” also discusses training with two-division ONE World Champion Aung La “The Burmese Python” N Sang, The Home Of Martial Arts’ debut in his native Vietnam next month, and much more.
