Aung La N Sang recently signed a lucrative new contract with ONE Championship, and believes it will be his last as a professional mixed martial artist.
“It’s a big deal, and it’ll be good for both parties,” the 39-year-old middleweight told The Jugo Mobile“It’s not a short contract, so probably the last contract I sign.
“It’s great to work with the company I started with and to be part of the class where I started to make a name for myself.
“We can finish this career strong.”
Aung La N Sang is a former two-division ONE MMA champion. “The Burmese Python” has been with the promotion since 2014 and has headlined some of the biggest shows in its history, including several in his home country of Myanmar. The latest chapter in his impressive career will begin when he takes on Turkey’s Shamil Erdogan in the first fight of his new contract. The bout will be featured on the main card of Saturday’s fight. UN 168 map in Denver, the Singaporean promotion’s second event on American soil after a thrilling debut in the same city in May 2023.
Aung La N Sang, who was born in Myanmar but has spent most of his life in the United States, introduced Fan Rong at the Denver competition last year. He is excited to compete on home soil again and hopes to give the American fans in the Ball Arena another chance to finish the competition.
“The reception I received from fans in America and Burmese fans in America [last year]“It’s unbelievable, it’s such an honour,” he said. “That’s why I’m working really hard for this fight, I’m training hard for this fight, making sure I’m at my best and I can put on the best performance I can.”
Aung La N Sang knows that beating “a beast” like Erdogan will be a tough task. The Turkish wrestling specialist is undefeated in nine professional fights and made his ONE debut by stopping Fan with a body kick last year.
He said he considered Aung La N Sang an easy fight.
The Burmese-American veteran assures that he is “well prepared” to give his opponent a rude awakening.
“I don’t think I’m an easy fighter for any middleweight in the world,” he said. “We’ll find out on September 6th.
“I’m going to try to finish him every second of this fight.”
Aung La N Sang went on a rough 1-3 stretch from 2020 to 2022, losing both of his titles during that span. He has since bounced back from that streak with three straight wins – knocking out Yushin Okami and Gilberto Galvao, and earning a submission win over Fan.
If he beats Erdogan, it will be hard to deny him as the leading contender for the middleweight title, now owned by three-division champion Anatoly Malykhin.
Another title reign would be the perfect way for the nearly 50-fight veteran to cap off his career – and it’s certainly not impossible – but he refuses to put the cart before the horse.
“[The title] “It doesn’t mean anything to me right now,” he said. “Only Shamil matters.”
“I can’t say anything [about a title shot] if I can’t finish Shamil.
