ONE Championship boss Chatri Sityodtong admitted he was “surprised” by Martin Nguyen retiring in Qatar, but the former two-division champ insisted he “didn’t want to be punch drunk at 40, chasing a check”.
The 35-year-old Vietnamese-Australian laid his gloves down in the Circle following a unanimous decision loss to Shamil Gasanov at ONE 171 in Qatar last week.
It was a fifth defeat in seven fights for the former two-division MMA champ, who has seen his fortunes slide since surrendering his featherweight title to Thanh Le in an October 2020 knockout.
“When it comes to that time, for me I have nothing left to prove in this division,” Nguyen told the Bangkok Post backstage at Lusail Sports Arena.
“Even though I still have a lot left in the gas tank, there's no direction there other than winning this fight in general.
“Taking this loss is pretty harsh, so it is what it is and this is my decision. I'm going to stand by it and I’ll spend the rest of my career and my life with my family.”
Nguyen was still ranked No 5 in the division, and gave No 4 Gasanov a tough fight, with his decision to retire catching ONE chairman and CEO Chatri slightly off guard.
“I was a little bit surprised,” Chatri told the Bangkok Post at the ONE 171 post event press conference.
“Martin came up to me afterwards and I asked him point blank, ‘Hey, what happened? Do you still have the fire?’ He said, ‘I fight for my family’.
“I don’t know what happened, the reason – I’ll give Martin a call.”
Nguyen said he will not be changing his mind, however, despite there still being plenty of intriguing fights for him.
“I just felt like at that very moment, it was the perfect timing. I don't want to be punch drunk by the time I'm 40 years old, fighting for a check,” Nguyen added.
“So this was the fight that swayed my career and I'm going to stand by my decision. Everything I do, I do it for my family. My purpose on this Earth is to guide my family and set them up in a way where it's generational.
“So I feel like I did my part with mixed martial arts, and moving forward I still have to figure it out. I'm sure I'll be led on the right path.”
Nguyen was the second fighter to retire on the ONE 171 card, after fellow legend and former rival Bibiano Fernandes.
The former bantamweight MMA champion was later confirmed to be the second inductee into the ONE Championship Hall of Fame. And Nguyen – who could have made history as a three-division champ were it not for a split decision loss to Fernandes in 2018 – may soon join him there.
“You never know, you might still see me around on the ONE Championship scene, but if that happens, I'll be honored – 10 and a half years in this company, all blood, sweat and tears.
“First two division champion, almost three divisions. I've done things MMA fighters never dreamed of, and it's all because of ONE Championship – all because they gave me an opportunity to achieve my dreams.”
There was almost a third retirement in Doha, with Nguyen’s good friend, training partner and fellow former champ Aung La N Sang also taking off his gloves after a KO loss to Shamil Erdogan, before changing his mind.
“It's just a coincidence I guess – we never really spoke about it,” Nguyen said. “Obviously it's been on my mind. I still know I can offer a lot more but I'd rather offer my body to the future, to the younger generation coming up.
“I'd rather give all my time to them and see them succeed and that's more rewarding to me than me succeeding to a certain pinnacle and then calling it quits.”
As for a favourite memory for “The Situ-Asian”? “All of them,” he said, with a smile.
“I've had the best time in ONE Championship,” he added. “Meeting all the staff and seeing it grow from a small company to the largest in the world, and being able to ride that wave, it's just a dream come true, man.”
