Aung La Nsang has become one of the faces of ONE Championship. Having a large fanbase in Myanmar has obviously helped the 37 year old establish himself but he also has a reputation for consistently putting on entertaining fights.
La Nsang hasn’t won a fight by decision since 2017, he fights to finish and more often than not that is exactly what he does. As the former middleweight and light heavyweight champion prepares to face Gilbert Galvao on Saturday he promises to try and put the Brazilian away as quickly as possible,
“If you watch any of my fights, I’m always looking for the finish. I want to get the finish and I’m going to work hard to get the finish.”
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Catchweight contest
The catchweight contest is set for ONE Fight Night 6 in Bangkok. La Nsang is a former light heavyweight champion but had decided the weight class was simply too big for his frame.
However this matchup came together at the last minute after original opponent Fan Rong tested positive for Covid-19. La Nsang was asked to move up in weight in order to make it happen and had no hesitation in accepting,
“They said that Gilberto can’t make the middleweight weight class and could we do a catchweight. We’re going to do a catchweight at 215 which is fine. I’m about 215, I’m not going to be super undersized.”
ONE Championship’s middleweight limit is 205lbs. But having fought as a light heavyweight several times La Nsang is not too concerned about the size difference,
“This weight class is 10lbs over my natural weight class, but I’ve fought at light heavyweight too, so it’s going to be alright. Everybody is around that weight class and that’s why they have that hydration test. We’re not too far off, and after the fight, they weigh you back again to make sure you’re not too heavy. So yeah, it’s good.”
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Similar style
La Nsang was beaten twice by BJJ black belt Reinier de Ridder, although the Dutchman only managed to submit him on one of those occasions. He faces a similar sort of challenge this weekend but the Brazilian has a totally different type of body,
“He is going to be physically strong. He’s a jiu-jitsu black belt. He’s down to throw power and looping shots as well. I feel like I’m a little bit better than him in the striking department, a little bit cleaner. I think on the ground, I’ll do okay against him. But I think my conditioning is better than his,” La Nsang said.
He has moved to Florida in order to train at Kill Cliff MMA. The camp is home to fighters like Jingliang Li, Luke Rockhold, Robbie Lawler and Gilbert Burns so La Nsang has no shortage of suitable sized sparring partners.
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Improve and evolve
Despite having been one of the most successful fighters on the ONE Championship roster he has never lost that desire to improve and evolve,
“Evolution is what I hope the fans see. An evolution to my game, that I can do everything, that I can do it at a high level, and that I’m a fan-friendly fighter meaning that it’s a fight that fans will get to enjoy.”
La Nsang was born in Myanmar but moved to the US as a child. The event will be broadcast live on Amazon Prime in the US and he hopes to win some new fans with his performance this weekend,
“Fans want to see finishes and they want to see great skills, and that’s what I feel like I’m gonna bring to the table in this fight.”
