One Championship’s Martin Nguyen angered by the hate in racist attacks on Asians in Australia amid coronavirus crisis
- Featherweight champ says it’s ‘devastating’ and ‘not human’ to see Asians being subjected to racist abuse
- Australian-Vietnamese star ‘heartbroken’ by the hatred but vows to keep fighting to raise awareness
One Championship featherweight title-holder Martin Nguyen has condemned the racist attacks being carried out against Asians in Australia during the global Covid-19 pandemic.
The 31-year-old Nguyen – born and raised in Sydney to Vietnamese parents who moved to Australia – is back in his home city self-quarantining with his wife and children, after a proposed April title defence fell through. The coronavirus outbreak has played havoc with Asian martial arts organisation One’s schedule, forcing them to postpone a string of shows.
But amid the battle against the deadly virus, Asians have encountered racial abuse in countries such as the United States, and Australia has been no different.
“Man, just the hate … the amount of hate that can come from somebody, that’s just devastating to see, and it’s not human,” Nguyen told the Post.
“Showing hate towards a specific race over a disease that’s going around, it’s not right, it’s completely wrong. The way people are going about it angers me.
“But it’s out of my control. The only thing I can do is raise awareness and go from there, I can’t do anything other than that.”