ONE 165 is already shaping up to be a massive card on Sunday, January 28, in Tokyo, Japan.
ONE Championship is stacking the deck for their return to the country at the Ariake Arena with a featherweight MMA bout with huge implications on the line. #1-ranked featherweight contender Garry Tonon will meet #3-ranked Martin Nguyen, the promotion announced on Tuesday.
Tonon has been calling for a match against Nguyen since he arrived in ONE. At that time, “The Situ-Asian” was the ONE Featherweight MMA World Champion. Since then, the division has shifted, but both men remain in the race for the gold. After losing his first shot at the gold, Tonon rebounded with two big wins over Johnny Nunez and Shamil Gasanov.
Now, he believes he is just one more victory away from claiming another shot at the title. Nguyen plans to usurp his position and make that claim for himself.
After dropping his title, the former divisional king struggled to piece together a winning streak but got back in the win column in his last performance. Both men are eyeing the winner of the ONE Featherweight MMA World Championship unification bout between Tang Kai and Thanh Le.
As the calendar turns over, the featherweight division is setting up for a huge new year.
The high-stakes featherweight battle joins Rodtang Jitmuangnon vs. Takeru Segawa and Shinya Aoki vs. Sage Northcutt on the card.
ONE 165: Tonon vs. Nguyen will help kickstart 2024 in a major way as one of the year’s premier events
ONE 165 will air live from Tokyo, Japan, on Sunday, January 28.