Aung La N Sang chasing two-division glory at ONE: QUEST FOR GOLD

Aung La “The Burmese Python” N Sang is constantly chasing new challenges, and he’ll face exactly that when he steps back into the ONE Championship cage on Friday, 23 February in Yangon, Myanmar.

The ONE Middleweight World Champion returns to action as he challenges for a second world title - the vacant ONE Light Heavyweight World Championship - against Brazil’s Alexandre “Bebezao” Machado at ONE: QUEST FOR GOLD.

“It is amazing. I am pretty excited,” Aung La N Sang enthused ahead of the contest.

“There have been a lot of changes over the past year. It just goes to show you how much you can accomplish in a year if you focus and you have your things together.”

Aung La N Sang captured the ONE Middleweight World Title in a rematch against Russia’s Vitaly Bigdash at ONE: LIGHT OF A NATION. The Myanmar athlete had lost out to the Russian in their first meeting, in which he’d stepped in at short notice to face the world champion.

However, his performance in defeat earned him a second shot at the belt, and after a full training camp Aung La N Sang produced a memorable display to earn a unanimous decision, and become the first-ever world champion from the nation of Myanmar.

He then faced heavyweight knockout artist Alain Ngalani in ONE Championship’s first Open-Weight Super Bout, and submitted his opponent in the first round after bravely standing toe to toe with the Hong Kong heavyweight in the early exchanges.

“I thought it was a good match for me. I would not have taken the match if I thought I was not going to win, and in my mind, I thought I was going to win, and I prepared correctly for it,” he said.

“I might have looked bigger [than Alain] because I was taller, but he was definitely a lot stronger than me, and when we clinched up, I could feel his power. I could not pull him around, like when I took him down for the takedown. He was very strong.

“It feels good to get the win, and it feels good to show my fans and my supporters that I am able to compete at this elite level.”

Now, Aung La N Sang faces his next big challenge as he bids to become a two-weight world champion with victory over Machado.

“The Burmese Python” is stepping up a division to vie for the vacant ONE Light Heavyweight World Championship against former heavyweight campaigner Machado.

For this contest, Aung La N Sang switched up his training, swapping his home gym of Crazy 88 Mixed Martial Arts in Maryland to head down to South Florida, where he worked on his gameplan and sharpened his skills at the Hard Knox 365 gym in Fort Lauderdale, South Florida.

“This is going to be very different from the Alain bout. This guy is more of a grappler, so I will be looking to stuff the takedowns and keep it standing,” he explained.

“Grappling is the only way he is able to beat me, but I have many ways to beat him. If the opportunity permits, I may even look to submit him. But the only way he can beat me is by grappling.”

Victory would see his superstar status elevated to even higher levels, and you can bet his pursuit of new challenges and even bigger goals won’t stop there.