Issue 182

September 2019

ONE Championship’s Aung La N Sang had an incredible 2018 and he became only the second man in the history of the company to simultaneously hold two world titles in two different weight classes. The “Burmese Python” began his year with a victory over Alexandre Machado at ONE: Quest for Gold and it was a landmark evening in his career as the ONE middleweight champion added the ONE light heavyweight world title to his mantlepiece.

Four months later Nsang was then involved in one of the greatest title fights in ONE Championship history when he took on Ken Hasegawa at ONE: Spirit of a Warrior in his home country of Myanmar. Throughout the fight Nsang found himself struggling against Hasegawa’s awkward striking stance and got caught on several occasions as the Japanese fighter looked to be on his way to an upset victory. Nsang had other ideas though, as he showed the true spirit of a champion and with less than two minutes left in the final round, he summoned the energy to finish Hasegawa with a beautiful combination to send the Yangon crowd wild and sealing the win.

With another middleweight title defense following later in the year against Mohammad Karkai, Nsang went 3-0 and continued to inspire the 53 million people back in his home country. Such is his popularity and fame back in Myanmar, a bronze statue of Nsang was erected in his hometown in honour of his achievements on the world stage of MMA.

With his country fully behind him, it was no surprise to see Nsang take home the 2018 World MMA Awards ‘International Fighter of the Year’ award as he continues to inspire a nation to believe that anything in this world is possible.