ONE Chairman reveals it was Kevin Belingon's choice to fight Martin Nguyen

Chatri Sityodtong stands between Martin Nguyen (L) and Kevin Belingon (R) photo by ONE CHAMPIONSHIP

Bantamweight contender Kevin Belingon of Team Lakay could be sitting and waiting for his hard earned world title shot right now, yet he opted to be involved in a high risk match up against two-division champion Martin Nguyen in the main event of 'ONE: Reign of Kings' on July 27 at Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.

Belingon, 30, had blitzed through his past five opponents making him the number one contender to Bibiano Fernandes' ONE bantamweight world title.

With the reigning champ out of the picture due to an injury, Belingon chose to fight Nguyen for the interim title the very moment he was offered the bout.

"Bibiano Fernandes turned down the fight because he's injured. Bibiano can only fight in October or November," said ONE Chairman Chatri Sityodtong.

"I gave Belingon a choice, 'You can wait a lot longer or do you want to do an interim title fight [with Nguyen]'. Belingon is a warrior so he said yes [to fighting Nguyen]. I was trying to make [the Bibiano fight] happen."

Nguyen, who holds a mixed martial arts record of 11-2, is most remembered for stopping the then ONE lightweight champion Eduard Folayang in two rounds.

He is also responsible for stopping Team Lakay's Edward Kelly in one round, making Belingon well aware of the risk he took in accepting the challenge.

"This is without a doubt the biggest bout of my career. Everything that I have worked on to this point, all the countless nights spent in the gym, endless rolls with my teammates at Team Lakay, all the wins and the sacrifices, it all comes down to this," said Nguyen.

Belingon explained, "I took this challenge against Martin Nguyen, despite having a guaranteed shot at Bibiano Fernandes already, because I wanted to prove that I never back down from any challenge no matter how big or small."

"Beating Martin will be huge for my career. He is a two-division world champion at both featherweight and lightweight. If I defeat him, I just beat a two-division world champion. Think about that for a second. I am excited to get into the cage this Friday night and do what I do best." — BAP, GMA News