Martin Nguyen Reveals His Thoughts On Ev Ting VS Shinya Aoki

As a two-division ONE World Champion, Martin “The Situ-Asian” Nguyen knows his schedule is going to be busy.

Unlike most athletes on the roster, his schedule is sometimes planed more than six months in advance, as matches are made to determine the contenders to challenge for the double gold in his possession.

At a press conference to announce ONE Championship’s 2019 schedule last week, it was revealed Ev “E.T.” Ting and Shinya “Tobikan Judan” Aoki will collide at Bangkok’s ONE: KINGDOM OF HEROES.

The winner of that bout would then move on to challenge for the ONE Lightweight World Title at Japan’s blockbuster show in March. As the current holder of the lightweight belt, it was news Nguyen welcomed.

He laughs: “I didn’t even know about the announcement until Arnaud LePont shared it. I was like, ‘Wow, I’m finally going to Japan!’

“I was always so excited to go to Japan, and now that has been announced, I’m so excited.”

Both Aoki and Ting are men the Vietnamese-Australian recently mentioned as potential opponents for his first defense of the lightweight belt he won from Eduard “Landslide Folayang.

In addition, he is delighted an undisputed number one contender will emerge in October.

“Yeah, I’m happy about that,” he says.

“There were other options out there — people were saying Eduard deserves a rematch, and there were other up-and-coming fighters like Timofey (Nastyukhin), Amir (Khan), and Honorio (Banario), but you know what? Ev and Shinya deserve it.

“Shinya, I thought he deserved it 100 percent. He finished two high-level guys in the first round, [including] Shannon Wiratchai.”

As for whom he expects to prevail, Nguyen will not be drawn on an iron-clad pick.

However, having seen their successes this year – Aoki’s first-round stoppages of Rasul Yakhyaev and Shannon “OneShin” Wiratchai, and Ting’s decision victories against Ariel “Tarzan” Sexton and Koji “The Commander” Ando – he does expect a gripping encounter.

“I think it is going to be a very good fight. You can never count Shinya out. He lost his title, but he has been on a tear since,” he says

“He has finished guys decisively – first-round finishes compared to Ev, who has ridden out decisions. 

“Ev has come back, he’s on a three-bout winning streak, and has taken out some high-level contenders that really deserved it as well, and he really deserves a title shot, but man, you can’t say no to Shinya, you know?

“The guy can have four losses in a row, and then come back and finish a fight in the first round, and you still can’t deny him. He is a dark horse – that’s how I see Shinya. 

“I have massive respect for both of the fighters. I can’t wait to see how this one plays out.”