MMA may be new there, but Myanmar has a rich history of martial arts, particularly in Lethwei, which is like a Muay Thai except more brutal – with headbutts.
Aung La N Sang sees promising talent emerging at ONE’s shows in Yangon and anticipates a lot more if their skills can be adapted for the cage.
“I was impressed by Bozhena Antoniyar and Phoe Thaw and I know we have a lot of fighters and people interested in combat sports – a lot of Lethwei fighters that are really gritty and tough,” he says.
“They just need to be moulded into MMA fighters. They need to be able to fight in shows like that. There is a lot of potential and there can be a lot of growth in the next couple of years.”
Aung La N Sang also plans to partner with other locals to open a gym to do his part to develop those competitors into the next batch of heroes.
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