The Situ-Asian has things all planned out.
Former ONE Championship featherweight kingpin Martin Nguyen is taking his sweet time off.
And for a fighter who is technically unsigned to any promotional outfit, Nguyen is hardly breaking a sweat.
“I officially fought my last fight in February, [and] the time is up [on the contract],” Nguyen told Nicolas Atkin of the South China Morning Post. “I don’t really care. I’m with the company until the end. I’m just going through some talks now with the big man [CEO Chatri Sityodtong] and we’ll go from there.”
Nguyen, who has also held titles at bantamweight and lightweight, is so confident of his ONE future that he already has his sights set on when his next fight will be—and against whom.
According to the man known as The Situ-Asian, he is targeting an October return to the octagon, and he is looking to fight the winner of the Shamil Gasanov (ranked 5th in the featherweight division) versus Gary Tonon (ranked 2nd) fight that will take place in ONE Fight Night 12 in July.
The 34-year-old fighter with Vietnamese-Australian roots also fired a stern warning to the rest of the featherweight division.
“I’m still working over here,” Nguyen said. “When we get back, I’m gonna put the work in and get the title back. that’s the ultimate goal.”
But, for the meantime, everything fighting related is on hold for Nguyen, who is now hell-bent on taking his family to a much-deserved getaway—something he promised his wife and three kids long ago.
“This vacation was booked roughly about two years ago because of COVID, and I had totally forgot; otherwise, I would have fought in June or July,” Nguyen admitted.
After this vacation, it will soon be back to business for The Situ-Asian.