Eduard Folayang, Martin Nguyen

Martin Nguyen is friends with his “ONE: Legends of the World” opponent, Eduard Folayang. However, the Vietnamese-Australian fighter has to set aside their friendship on Nov. 10, Friday, at the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City, Metro Manila, in an attempt to have two title belts.

“I like Eduard [Folayang],” Nguyen said. “I said to myself I did not want to compete against someone I like and take away their glory, but opportunities like this do not come around too often, and if I refused to do this, someone else was going to compete against him and take his glory so it is strictly business.”

Nguyen savors the opportunity to become the first two-division world champion in ONE Championship history. He considers his highly-anticipated championship clash with Folayang as a dream come true.

“Following my title win, I took a one-month vacation,” Nguyen shared. “But in my mind, I really wanted to compete. I was so eager to return to the cage once more before the conclusion of 2017. My wish came true in the form of this dream match against Eduard Folayang.”

After signing the bout agreement for the cross-divisional showdown with Folayang, Nguyen immediately headed back into training camp and will train as usual with KMA Top Team in Sydney, Australia to figure out the puzzle that is the ONE Lightweight World Champion. While the Filipino is a world-class striker, Nguyen has noticed a recurring pattern in his style that could leave him vulnerable in their upcoming title tilt.

Nguyen knows that he has quite the challenge ahead of him, especially since he is heading into Folayang’s home turf of Manila in the Philippines. However, Nguyen is up to the task and trusts in his plan that he will take home the ONE Lightweight World Championship and write his name in history books.

While currently reigning as ONE featherweight world champion, Nguyen aims to steal Folayang’s ONE lightweight world champion title. Watch a short interview with Nguyen here: