WATCH: Martin Nguyen silences Manila with clinical one-shot KO of Filipino legend Eduard Folayang

In November 2017, Martin Nguyen made a historic feat in ONE Championship after knocking out Eduard Folayang with an atomic punch, That came during their ONE lightweight MMA world title bout at ONE: Legends of the World inside the Mall of Asia Arena in Manila, Philippines.

Nguyen did the improbable and became the first simultaneous two-division world champion in the promotion. This ground-breaking achievement was reposted by ONE Championship on its YouTube channel with the description:

“Ahead of former two-division ONE World Champion Martin Nguyen’s featherweight MMA clash with American grappling superstar Garry Tonon at ONE 165 on January 28, relive his incredible moment of sportsmanship following his phenomenal knockout of Filipino MMA icon Eduard Folayang to win the ONE Lightweight MMA World Title in 2017!“

The ‘Situ-Asian’ weathered the early striking masterclass from the ‘Landslide’ as he absorbed massive leg kicks and multiple spinning attacks from the defending world champion.

Nguyen tried to slow down the offense of Folayang by securing a takedown in the opening round, but time expired, and they headed into the interval.

It was the same narrative in the second round, as Folayang continued to pour on the crisp Wushu striking over Nguyen to inflict damage. However, the Australian-Vietnamese star timed Folayang’s spinning back kick and countered it with his signature overhand right punch, which instantly floored him.

Nguyen officially became the new ONE lightweight MMA world champion.

Prior to this champion-versus-champion showdown, the Hard Knocks 365 representative captured the ONE featherweight world title against Marat Gafurov with a second-round TKO finish.

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Martin Nguyen wants to continue his road back to gold when he faces Garry Tonon at ONE 165

Following his world title defeat at the hands of Thanh Le in October 2020 at ONE: Inside the Matrix, Nguyen has split his last four bouts into two wins and two losses. Despite this up-and-down stretch, the former featherweight king remained in the top five rankings at number three.

But his road to redemption continues on January 28 at ONE 165.

Nguyen is set to face former ONE featherweight MMA world title challenger and current second-ranked divisional contender Garry Tonon in a pivotal match that could potentially determine the next challenger for the coveted 26-pound golden belt.

The winner of this clash between Nguyen and Tonon will wait for the result of the world unification bout between Tang Kai and Thanh Le on March 1 at ONE 166 at Lusail Sports Arena in Qatar.