“The Only Reason Why I Keep Fighting” – Aung La N Sang Wants a Crack at Anatoly Malykhin’s Newly Acquired Middleweight Gold
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Former two-division World Champion Aung La N Sang is not done chasing gold, and he wants to take a swipe at a newly crowned champ. Earlier this month, “The Burmese Python” watched as divisional rival Reinier de Ridder surrendered the ONE Middleweight MMA World Title.
That too, to Anatoly Malykhin, a man who already had two titles to his name in their main event clash at ONE 166: Qatar. With the win, the Russian powerhouse made history by becoming the first three-division World Champion in MMA.
Aung La N Sang has big plans for the middleweight division
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For his part, Aung La is riding a three-fight win streak – all via stoppage – and is on track to challenge for the coveted middleweight MMA strap. In an interview with ONE, the 38-year-old assured everyone that he still has a lot of fight left him.
“That’s the only reason why I keep fighting – to be champion again. That’s the only reason why I’m fighting still. I could retire now, but it wouldn’t be fun. It wouldn’t be fun for the ONE Championship middleweight division,” he said.
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Aung La is known for his explosive power and formidable ground game – tools he used to win 10 of his first 11 fights in the world’s largest martial arts organization. In that stretch, he won and defended the ONE Light Heavyweight and Middleweight World Titles.
He firmly believes that his style of fighting will produce fireworks when matched up with the equally exciting Malykhin. “If we were to fight, there’s no way that any of us would back down, and we’ll put on a great show,” he said. “Think about it – every fight that I fight, I fight for the finish. Every fight that he fights, he fights for the finish. There would be no yellow card in that fight. It would for sure be a barnburner for the fans.”
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He wants his title back
Aung La lost both of his World Titles in back-to-back matches with De Ridder, with the latest of the two happening at ONE on TNT IV back in April 2021. He has since bounced back by winning four of his last five matches. It has been a long road back to contending for the division’s top prize, but the Burmese fighter says he won’t stop until he gets his opportunity again.
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“I don’t care how long it takes, I’m still gunning for the title. And it’s one of those things that I don’t need to be in this sport anymore, but I want to be because I still have that hunger.” He said. “I still want to be champion again, and I still want to put on great shows for the fans. My job as a professional fighter is not done.”
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Smrutisnat Jena