ONE Championship: Martin Nguyen ‘made the same mistake he did with Thanh Le’, says Chatri Sityodtong
- Kim Jae-woong shocks former featherweight champion with first-round knockout in Singapore
- ONE chairman Chatri thinks Nguyen must quit ‘head hunting’ after second-straight defeat
ONE Championship’s stacked Revolution card was full of shocking finishes, but perhaps none more so than Kim Jae-woong’s first-round knockout of Martin Nguyen.
“The Fighting God” (12-4) caught the former featherweight champ coming in on Friday night, dropping him before delivering some hammer fists to seal the deal early in Singapore.
It was a second straight defeat for the Vietnamese-Australian former double champ (13-5), who surrendered his belt 11 months ago when he was stopped in the third round by Thanh Le.
“I thought Martin made the same mistake he did with Thanh,” ONE chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong told media, including the Post, on a virtual post-fight scrum.
“Martin obviously has massive KO power with that overhand right, but with an overhand right you’re gonna be susceptible to short straight rights. Martin, you could just see he leaned in and overextended, he didn’t set anything up.
“That was what I was surprised with by Martin today. He didn’t set up shots he would normally. When he tagged Kim with one punch he just thought, ‘I’m gonna come in with another one’ but no jab or anything, just loading up.
“Kim just threw a straight right and I think Martin has to go back to his more almost counter striking, or a patient way of striking, as opposed to head hunting.”
The shock victory has earned South Korean Kim a title shot against the winner of Thanh Le and Garry Tonon, who will contest the belt at the Asian promotion’s 10th anniversary show, ONE: X, on December 5.
“I was blown away by Kim Jae-woong as well,” Chatri added. “That technical right hand. I think many people were expecting Martin to knock Kim out, so it was a real shocker.”
