ONE Championship: Martin Nguyen promises Thanh Le ‘rematch will be different’ as rebuild begins
- Former featherweight champ looking to get back in the Circle in February after losing title at Inside The Matrix
- ‘I’m going to work on myself … fight a smart fight and not an emotional fight,’ Nguyen says of potential rematch
Martin Nguyen will be ready in February to face Thanh Le or whomever ONE Championship puts across the Circle.
“The Situ-Asian” (13-4) saw a reign of more than three years as ONE featherweight champ snapped when Le (12-2) stopped him in the third round of an explosive contest during Inside The Matrix at Singapore Indoor Stadium on October 30.
Despite the disappointment, Nguyen is putting everything into perspective.
“It took me almost a day to get over the thought and feeling [of losing the title],” the 31-year-old Vietnamese-Australian told SCMP MMA. “I’m not going to take anything away from [Le]. He came to fight and he came to win. That was the main thing. He did what he had to do to get his hand raised.
“For me, I’ve been there. I know what it feels like to win and I know what it feels like to now lose. When the next fight comes, as I said, I will rack up a few wins. The rematch will be different.”