Nguyen upbeat on ONE lightweight title defense vs Lee

MANILA, Philippines — Despite coming from a loss, Martin Nguyen is oozing with confidence ahead of his ONE Championship bout this Friday in Singapore with challenger Christian Lee.

Falling to bantamweight kingpin Bibiano Fernandes, Nguyen said he is better motivated to remain a reigning champion in two divisions.

The 29-year-old, who is known to Filipino fans as the fighter who dethroned Eduard Folayang in a lightweight clash last year, added that he has worked hard to get this far, almost as if throwing shade to those who criticize him for his aggressive approach in chasing varying division titles.

Nguyen, currently 10-2 in the promotion, also shared that he’s planning to tap on the takeaways from that botched bid against Fernandes in fending off Lee before the latter’s home crowd.

After all, this — quite aptly — is also his unstoppable dream.